The following is a column by C.J. Watson, a guard in the NBA for the Orlando Magic who has played 10 seasons in the league. Watson founded the Quiet Storm Foundation with his family based around the core values of education, encouragement, hard work and faith. The foundation develops and implements community programs that support students, including presenting annual scholarship awards; encouraging healthy life habits; and challenging students to serve as community leaders. Quiet Storm focuses on Watson’s hometown of Las Vegas, and his current NBA city, Orlando.
Wearables are a blast into the future. It’s interesting to imagine how technology can and will be used in the future as new items are produced that deliver more and more information.
In the NBA, wearables can give fans a completely new look into the game. On one hand, they can bring the fan into in-game conversations, what a team is saying during timeouts, what goes on in the locker room and the weight room. This insight shows a cool side of what NBA players do on game day or practice day. On the business side, I think this kind of access should be a paid subscription.
There are also concerns that come with wearable technology. One is the safety of the players who wear these devices and how exactly they work. Another concern is using this data in contract negotiations. I don’t think teams should be able to do this in a way that works against the player. Everyone knows some players are more marketable than others. It could result in more money or a bigger market where the player could make more money based on his fan base, but it can also work the opposite way. Wearables can also measure a player’s fatigue level, physical performance or hydration. This information should be kept confidential, and should not be released to other teams. We would not want other teams receiving information that would cause them not to sign a player in the future due to lack of performance or hydration or skill level, which cannot be a clear picture of that player as an athlete.
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To introduce wearables to the NBA, we should start with practice. This is a good environment to test them out, see how they work and see if they get in the way. This way, players and teams can gauge if the products have good feedback and most importantly if the players like wearing them.
I think wearable technology has a lot of positive possibilities for the NBA, and it will be very interesting to see how products develop and help improve the league.