As the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors square off in the NBA Finals for the second straight season, it has become apparent that sports fans are watching a “moment” in sports history to be remembered.
A 73-win season, an exhilarating playoffs, LeBron’s sixth straight NBA Finals appearance, multiple records broken — this season has been memorable to say the least. The same can be said for the NBA’s tech projects and partnerships this season.
As a fan, we expect information to be seconds away. A swift tap on our smart phone and we are linked to our favorite team’s technological developments, all the up-to-date stories happening around the NBA, and even live streams.
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While the league embarked on many new tech endeavors this year, below are four tech and digital initiatives that we felt were worthy of revisiting as the Finals tip off.
1. NBA Launches New Digital Network Focused On Video Creators And Basketball Culture
At the beginning of the season, the NBA announced a partnership with Verizon in order to develop a mobile app that would stream live NBA games.
The app would give fans the ability to watch their favorite team any place, any time. But that was just the start. Fans would also be able to cut and edit clips of the game and post them seamlessly to their personal social media accounts.
In May, the NBA took another step in developing its digital media platform by teaming up with BroadbandTV and launching NBA Playermaker.
The purpose of NBA Playmaker is to “give content creators the ability to access game footage, interviews and various NBA content” through NBA Playermaker’s network, including YouTube, NBA’s digital assets and other platforms as well.
“Creating and sharing videos with others are part of being a digitally engaged fan,” said NBA Vice President, Global Media Distribution Jeff Marsilio. “Our new venture with industry leader BBTV will further embrace this growing community of creators and aims to inspire original basketball content that will connect with our fans around the world.”
2. Disney, STATS, Caltech And Queensland University Collaborate To Create Smart Search For Sports Plays
The NBA also tried to revamp the ability of teams to search for specific plays by bringing in technology dubbed, Chalkboard.
In conjunction with Disney researchers, STATS, Queensland University of Technology and Caltech, they designed the software to allow a user to search for plays by drawing them out. The design is supposed to act like the whiteboard a coach would use on the sideline when drawing up a play.
With Chalkbaord, STATS’ SportVU system will enhance those teams using the system to make any play easily accessible. Disney hopes to extend their relationship with ESPN by giving them the ability to sort through thousands of plays daily; decreasing their workload.
Chalkboard could easily be used in other leagues down the road, but for now NBA teams will be browsing the database for their most efficient plays. If you are the San Antonio Spurs, you will not have to look far for a play run to perfection.
3. The NBA Has Partnered With GE Healthcare To Continue Its Push To Keep Players Healthy
After an injury prone 2014-2015 season, the NBA decided to make a change.
The league decided to hire Joe Rogowski, a former strength and conditioning coach, as its first Director of Sports Medicine and Research.
Although advancements were made, the NBA took another step in furthering the careers of its players by partnering with GE Healthcare. 70 proposals were submitted to the NBA and GE, but only six were chosen as winners. Those six proposals “focused on the natural history, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tendinopathy” and the ongoing epidemic.
Adam Silver has made it apparent that the NBA’s goal is to ensure the league is as safe as possible for its players who take on a significant physical toll throughout a long season. Making strides in the injury department is the first step in battling these issues and creating a relationship with GE brings awareness and technology in solving these outbreaks.
4. During Kobe Bryant’s Final Week The #MambaDay Hashtag Generated Enormous Global Reach
Our final highlight of the technology world in the NBA season ends with the retirement of one of its greatest players, Kobe Bryant.
April 13th, deemed “Mamba Day” was created to celebrate the end of Kobe’s impressive and decorated 20-year career. Social media jumped at the opportunity to honor the Lakers superstar and generated the hashtag, #MambaDay to capture the closing of his career.
During the week of April 7 – April 15, almost 1.13 billion impressions on social media were generated through 652 brands, teams or celebrities that payed tribute to Kobe. The bulk of those impressions were seen on Twitter through athletes, teams and leagues.
The statistics surrounding Kobe and #MambaDay are astounding.
Top Leagues (athlete and team social accounts) posting for #MambaDay
- NBA – 293 posts for 620 million impressions
- La Liga – 17 posts for 170.6 million impressions
- NFL – 470 posts for 86 million impressions
- Men’s Tennis – 13 posts for 57 million impressions
- MLB – 89 posts for 53 million impressions
Top Athletes/Teams Posting for MambaDay
- LeBron James – 4 total posts for 182.6 million impressions
- FC Barcelona – 11 total posts, 150.7 million impressions
- Rafael Nadal – 4 total posts, 36 million impressions
- Kevin Durant – 3 total posts, 35.4 million impressions
- Chris Paul – 2 total posts, 32.3 million impressions
Although Kobe’s NBA career is over, he left behind a powerful legacy. Fans and athletes across the world payed tribute to him.
So as the NBA season wraps up and we wait for the next eventual champion, the NBA continues to flourish by taking a digital and tech approach to its league.