New Technology in Basketball: Technological Innovations Changing The NBA

By: Roger Wright, Staff Writer
March 4, 2022

Everything today has changed or improved since the world went digital. Technology has reconfigured every aspect of our lives, including the sports world.

The National Basketball Association and every franchise have continued to welcome new ideas and innovations to improve the league. If you grew up watching the heroics of basketball greats, like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan, you can tell that a lot has changed. MJ's league isn't the same as Lebron's.

Technology cuts across different aspects of basketball, from fans to players to the coaching staff, and is changing the way people watch, play, and analyze the game. Here's a quick rundown of some of the innovations that have been implemented in recent times.

Watching Games On-Demand

There was a time when fans outside Chicago could only watch the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in nationally televised games. Imagine missing out on such an amazing era of basketball due to technological limitations.

But the story has changed. Fans can now have access to NBA games by subscribing to NBA Pass, an on-demand streaming service. They can choose a season-long subscription package or enjoy single game streams.

What's more? NBA fans can now access their favorite games without spending out of pocket. And they can watch the game on different mobile devices and an expanding number of platforms.

Specialized Cameras

Analysis has always been a critical part of judging a player or team's prowess. Back in the day, player performances were reviewed only based on basic denominators like points, rebounds, blocks, and assists. But today, we can analyze more aspects of a player's game. And this is due to the implementation of SportVU cameras and their database.

Every arena in the NBA now has SportVU cameras thanks to the NBA's partnership with STATS LLC. In a league that has almost totally transformed into a 3-point contest, this technology also helps us calculate shot distance. We now have an idea of when and how points were scored.

Furthermore, we can now tell how many points the likes of Chris Paul and Nicola Jokic generate with their assists, whether a rebound was contested, and other important forms of data we couldn't analyze in time past.

The Internet and Social Media

Unlike back in the days, the internet has provided an Avenue for players, fans, coaching staff, and sports analysts to interact with each other. The rise of social media has helped fuel debates around the game; some fans would argue that Lebron James is the face of the league, while others beg to differ.

These interactions have helped to grow the league's popularity beyond the United States. Today, the NBA continues to build a large fan base in other parts of the world; Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America.

Aside from social media engagements, sports betting also helps to fuel interest in basketball. People who normally would care less have developed an interest in league games with the hope of winning some cash or bonuses. Gambling enthusiasts can now research NBA betting odds online and place wagers on different teams.

Wearables

Player health is one of the most important aspects of basketball. Over the years, we've seen prospective talents wasted due to injuries, some of which could have been avoided.

Wearable technology is designed to monitor different aspects of a player's performance, like heart rate, player speed, and acceleration, which could help determine a player's fitness.

The players are an asset so it's only right for the league and its teams to implement this technology to keep players healthy and fit to play.

Conclusion

Technological advances are changing the NBA in terms of gameplay, analysis, and popularity. We can only expect more changes in the future as more innovations pop up.