Imagine being able to sit in a lounge with seven-time NBA All-Star champion Robert Horry as he discusses clutch performances in the NBA playoffs and the biggest moments throughout his career.
Through a partnership with the NBA and Google, fans will be able to do just that. On Friday, the league and technology company is launching the NBA’s first original virtual reality series, “House of Legends,” which is being made available via a new NBA VR app on Daydream.
From Google’s expanded relationship with the NFL, where it produced a nine-part virtual reality series last fall, the company learned that episodic content is a current focus around sports.
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“What we realized is that we wanted to ensure we have a compelling content offering for our users and have re-engaging, recurring content. Users can come back to in order to receive more of the content they love,” said Aaron Luber, Head of Entertainment Partnerships for Google VR/AR. “In terms of VR video series, we believe very much right now in episodic.”
Fans will be able sit virtually alongside other retired players like James Worthy, Bruce Bowen, Chauncey Billups and John Starks as they walk users through their career, pop culture and other discussion points. For now, the plan is to roll out a weekly episode with a former NBA player, with the league handling which retirees are selected.
Luber added that Google received inspiration for the filming of the NFL series from the HBO series Hard Knocks while the team gleaned insights from a 12-minute virtual reality film featuring Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James for the new NBA series.
While Luber didn’t disclose the proportion of original produced content versus game highlights and past footage in House of Legends, he did say that the former is a priority for Google as they continue integrating 360-degree content and virtual reality with sports.
Earlier this week, the NBA also unveiled plans for fans in the U.S. to be able to watch highlights from NBA All-Star weekend in virtual reality, including the game itself, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest. Fans can access the experience via the NextVR app with either Google Daydream View or the Samsung Gear VR headset.