Yesterday, the National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) officially announced a player-specific app. This will be the first of its kind, and it is the latest in the NBPA’s efforts to keep the players informed of all happenings regarding the NBPA.
The Sportsblog.com developed the app, which allows members to watch video messages from union leaders, take part in polls, contact union leaders directly, and update players with the latest information.
Regarding the app, NBPA’s Chief Marketing Officer, Jordan Schlachter, said, “We are well aware of the digital age in which we live in today, and this app is the perfect platform for us to communicate directly with all our members and keep them up to date with all the goings-on within the organization,” And for those of you that are wondering how the NBPA plans on keeping this a player-specific app, Jordan revealed that, “The app is password protected and secure.”
So far, about 100 players have downloaded the app and have started to use some of its features, and even more are expected to join with the All-Star festivities coming up this weekend.
Chief Operating Officer of Sportsblog.com, Kevin April, also talked about how they worked closely with the NBPA to create an app that fills a real need within the organization. He went on to say that they have more plans ahead and are looking to offer more features to players, the union, and even the fans. The next phase of the app will be to allow players to post their blogs directly to Sportsblog.com, which will allow players to voice their own opinion on a platform that is not only easy to use, but safe.
The NBA has been pretty good in keeping up with technology and seizing opportunities to help the league evolve. It will be interesting to see if this new NBPA app leads to players associations from other leagues to create their own app for their respective players.