REPORTING FROM OAKLAND: It was a regular break in the action during the first quarter of Tuesday’s NBA playoff game at Oracle Arena when a familiar voice — at least here in Silicon Valley — echoed through the building. “Hey Google, turn down the lights.” Google’s popular voice assistant helped set the mood as the dance team took the floor for a quick performance before the postseason battle resumed. Such was the scene during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals as Google, with its massive headquarters located just south of here, spent big dollars on a unique sponsorship with… Read More
Paul Allen had many passions, ranging from technology to philanthropy to rock ‘n’ roll. But basketball and his beloved Trail Blazers were undoubtedly high on the list. “Nobody loved that team more than him,” former Blazers exec Chad Buchanan told The Oregonian this week. On Thursday night, as the Blazers kicked off their 2018-19 season, Rip City felt a little different. Paul’s seat pic.twitter.com/PYJGXgw8ib — Jason Quick (@jwquick) October 19, 2018 Allen passed away Monday at the age of 65, two weeks after announcing that he was diagnosed with a recurrence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Microsoft co-founder purchased Portland’s NBA franchise in… Read More
[Love sports and technology? Sign up for our sports tech newsletter to receive this rundown from GeekWire’s Taylor Soper via email every week.] TAYLOR’S TAKE ON THE WEEK IN SPORTS TECH: One trend I like to track is watching how big tech giants are getting into sports — and our spotlight on the Seahawks use of Microsoft software this week was a good example. Microsoft in June debuted its new Sports Performance Platform, a product born out of the company’s internal incubator that helps coaches and trainers gain insight into injury prevention, or analyze the proper workload for a practice regimen. Now the Seahawks… Read More
The Portland Trail Blazers just hired a new manager, but probably not the type you’d expect from an NBA team. The latest 20-year-old to join Portland’s pro hoops franchise won’t be draining 3-pointers or snagging rebounds on the court. Instead, Cameron McAlees will help lead Portland’s new Blazer5 Gaming esports team as its first-ever operations manager. Blazer5 Gaming is one of 17 teams that will compete next year in the new NBA 2K League, a joint venture between the NBA and Take Two Interactive, makers of the popular NBA 2K video game. Each team is associated with a traditional NBA… Read More
