Los Angeles Clippers star guard Chris Paul was seen before Saturday’s game wearing a WHOOP on his left wrist, and he’s among the numerous players on the team who use the device.
Backcourt mate J.J. Redick became the latest Clippers player to speak of his use of WHOOP, the wearable device that analyzes strain, recovery and sleep.
“I actually wear one at night,” Redick said Friday on The Rich Eisen Show during a conversation about NBA players and their rest. “It’s called a WHOOP, and you wear it on your wrist, and it sort of measures your REM cycles and all these things.
“The WHOOP is for my own sort of benefit.”
Clippers players DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin told ESPN in a story published earlier this month they too use the device. Jordan, the All-Star center, said he used WHOOP during the Clippers’ Feb. 6 game and wore a wristband to hide his use of the device on the court after the strap was given to him by his personal trainer.
“We’re technically not allowed to wear them during games, although some guys sort of skirt the rules with that,” Redick told Eisen, adding that he doesn’t have to hand in the WHOOP to the team for data analysis because he chooses to wear it.
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Griffin told ESPN he hasn’t been wearing it in games because he’s unsure whether or not it’s allowed.
While WHOOP was approved for in-game use in Major League Baseball earlier this month, it will have to go through a different process to officially be allowed in the NBA in games. Wearables are not specifically mentioned in the current CBA. When the new collective bargaining agreement goes into effect July 1, wearables may not be used in games until an agreement on in-game usage between the league and the National Basketball Players Association is reached.
But a deal could be coming as both sides are becoming increasingly comfortable with wearable devices. That includes Paul, who is president of the NBPA, as his use of WHOOP was shown in a video clip tweeted out by the league.
#ItTakesEverything @CP3 hits the floor to warm up for tonight’s @LAClippers #NBAonABC action! pic.twitter.com/4U2QzBAKQy
— NBA (@NBA) March 18, 2017