The NBA has a new ball. Wilson made it, it already played the California Summer League, it has a Bluetooth sensor and it sends data in real time. A ball with a past and a network connection. And what does the richest league in the world do with it? It tests it for a few preseason games. A ball like that deserves an entrance.
Me, I’ll give it one. Saturday, half past eight, the caretaker switches off half the strip lights, the two school fête spotlights on the centre circle. [jingle] Mesdames et messieurs, dames en heren, it has already done California, it senses, it transmits in real time… the connected baaall! Make some noise.
And then the referees. They will wear a wristband to talk to the replay centre, on top of the earpiece that appeared a year ago. For video reviews, score changes and clock malfunctions. When the clock breaks down at our place, that’s my best moment: thirty seconds of free music. Over there, they have a wristband to cut it short. The referee, sir, talks to his wrist, the replay centre answers. That conversation, I would have put it through the PA.
There is a catch, though. The NBA said the ball’s data will be used for research only and will have no effect on the whistle. Eventually, that data could help with balls deflected out of bounds. For now, nobody asks its opinion. [jingle cut]
A ball that transmits and that nobody listens to yet. It belongs at the scorer’s table.
The wristbands will not be used in the regular season, only for the preseason trials. My PA system has real-time data too. It keeps it to itself. Just saying.
It’s true, we checked: Basket USA.
