Wearables set to add 'real measurements' capability to NBA's analytics battlefront

It’s an arms race just beyond the reach of even the NBA’s greatest wingspans. Professional basketball’s revolution is happening far from the hardwood, behind the scenes, in the private war chests of data that teams are just beginning to grasp.

Most pro sports franchises are using analytics in some way, ranked here by ESPN. By most accounts it was first applied to positioning in European soccer leagues, became swept up in the North American baseball analytics movement to position outfielders, and now teams in the NBA are now beginning to see its value.

"You use what you like to tell your story,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. “There's certain things you look for but I don’t know if I didn't look for them before but now there's statistical evidence that helps you. I think each team probably has different things that they use but I think teams are going to keep getting better at what to really look for."

The NBA’s Moneyball equivalent was the 2013 column “Lights, Camera, Revolution” by ESPN’s Zach Lowe that took readers inside the Toronto Raptors’ use of SportVu camera tracking. The Raptors are early adopters of technology - just check out the “war room” at their new practice facility.

SportVu generates two-dimensional data and generates stats like which player runs the farthest on average (Jimmy Butler, 2.74 miles per game), but can’t tell which player spends the most time elevated off the ground. That third dimension is coming soon through player wearables, but it’s not here just yet.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova was recently caught wearing a Whoop wristband during games to track biometric data, and was told by the NBA to stop. LeBron James wears the same one but in practice only. Use during NBA games will depend on NBA Players’ Association approval, and according to ESPN's Tom Habertsroh the league and union will meet on the issue today.

Baseball, on the other hand, has embraced technology for injury prevention in a long season filled with repetitive strain motions. This season the MLB officially approved in-game use of two wearable devices: the Motus Baseball Sleeve to measure stress on a pitcher’s elbow, and the Zephyr Bioharness to track breathing and heart rate levels.

Baseball managers have to be pitch-count conscious to project the arms of their aces, and the same repetitive stress concerns made their way to volleyball where the number of times a player jumps affects the longevity of their knees and careers.

VERT technology is currently being used in the NBA, the Miami Heat the first team to have jumped in. The company has an extensive history of working with USA Volleyball to calculate jump load and provide tangible, objective measurements of the stress on the body that's useful in a sport that’s been historically bad on knees.

“Being able to tie in real measurements is the future of all analytics,” said Martin Matak, the president and founder of VERT. “You have to have real numbers to have real information. You can see the condition of the heart and all the measurements on the body and with camera technology tied in with wearables we’re going to have this whole new frontier.”

Not only is VERT being embraced at the highest level of competition, it’s available to order as an individual or in team-packs for coaches. Anyone keen to dive into the numbers of their own game could wear VERT along with a ShotTracker Sleeve on their arm, and shoot with a 94Fifty Smart Sensor ball and have more data to analyze than was ever available to NBA teams just a few short years ago.

What those holding the information decide to do with it is what’s most interesting. There’s always the danger of over-embracing the numbers (R.I.P. to “The Process”) and forgetting to focus on the aesthetics of the on-court product.

“You can look at a lot of things a lot of different ways, but it’s more about efficiency than anything else,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, widely regarded as one of the more forward-thinking people in the NBA. “I get caught up in efficiency from a scoring stand-point, rebound percentages, and factor in fourth quarter and crunch-time performance.”

Front offices rely on their coaches to direct their players to the information that suits them best. Of course some players are more curious, and some would rather shoot another hundred jump shots than study numbers and look for meaning.

There are doubters like Charles Barkley, who famously said: “I’ve always believed analytics was crap…All these guys who run these organizations who talk about analytics, they have one thing in common - they’re a bunch of guys who have never played the game.”

As the NBA enters its technological revolution it will be increasingly important for franchises to embrace all advantages within their reach. How they apply their war chest of information will determine what’s within their grasp or if the basketball arms race will leave them in the dust.