As part of the All-Star Weekend, the NBA seeks to take steps forward in terms of developing a league that is always at the forefront of innovation and new technologies.
The most innovative initiative, which is something that has been rarely seen before in sports, is the NBA’s implementation of virtual reality (VR) in the game itself, as fans can choose to be any player.
VR was introduced in football at the last World Cup in 2022, as FIFA released an app through which fans could get live player date by focusing the camera on each player from the steps.
Yet, the NBA is taking it one step further, as the fans can virtually be out there on the court. With journalist and former NFL employee Ahmad Rashad as a volunteer, NBA commissioner Adam Silver demonstrated this new feature.
A fan can scan their own avatar into a live NBA game, pick a match and have to “request” a player, be it Talen-Horton Tucker, who is the one they test in the trial, or LeBron James.
In the videos you can see how Rashad slams a dunk because that is the play that ‘THT’ performed. A normal body hanging brutally from the hoop thanks to virtual reality.
