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
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is never short of courtside enthusiasm while watching his LA Clippers compete, as we documented on an episode of our Numbers Geek podcast this weekend. But on Monday night, he took it to another level, as he witnessed a bit of NBA history as his team overcame the largest deficit ever in the playoffs with a 135-131 victory over the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers trailed by 31 points before mounting a comeback to stun the defending NBA champs at home in game two of the opening round series. Ballmer has owned the team since… Read More
Amazon bolstered its growing library of live sports programming with the addition of NBA League Pass to Prime Video Channels. The NBA’s live streaming product is now available on Amazon’s video platform for Prime members who also subscribe to NBA League Pass ($28.99/month or $169 for a season) that provides access to live out-of-market regular season games for all NBA teams. The games will stream much like they do on the other 19 platforms where NBA League Pass is available. But those using Fire TV devices will have access to Prime Video’s X-Ray feature that shows fans team stats and player… Read More
LOS ANGELES — Augmented reality on sports broadcasts isn’t new. In fact, there’s a gold standard: the first-down line for football games, invented two decades ago. Imagine the chaos and confusion in homes and sports bars across the country if they took that away. More recent additions to the genre include the virtual baseball strike zone, and the digital arc tracing the flight of a golf ball. So what about basketball? Can augmented reality provide anything so indispensable that NBA fans would howl in protest if it were taken away? Not yet. But the technology is impressive, and the potential is… 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
