NBA commissioner Adam Silver unveiled new “smart jerseys” on Friday at its annual NBA All-Star Technology Summit.
Adam Silver unveils the NBA jersey of the future. pic.twitter.com/h5GePOwOjx
— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2019
It’s unclear when, how or where these jerseys will be released or if Nike will still be sponsoring the jerseys when they release. Nike has already released a smart jersey of their own that allows people to look up highlights and stats by simply scanning a player’s jersey with their phone and it also gives the user some rewards for doing so.
Ideally, fans will be able to change the number and the name on the jersey instantly using a mobile app on smartphones, allowing them to customize their jerseys at any time, according to ESPN’s Marc Spears. Silver demonstrated as such at the conference, changing a Stephen Curry No. 30 jersey into a Michael Jordan No. 23.
Per Spears, Silver also talked about other future technological advances around the game. These included facial recognition to let fans into games without ticket takers, virtual reality for fans to watch from home and feel like they’re in the arena, and holographic mascots.
The Technology Summit, which was held on Friday morning, kicked off the festivities of 2019 NBA All-Star weekend in Charlotte, NC.
