The Golden State Warriors' title defense is off to a scorching start, running out the gate to an 11-0 record so far this season.
In addition to sitting on top of the NBA, the Warriors are pretty savvy in the tech space as well. A Digital Trends piece recently shed light on how the defending champion Warriors use wearable tech for everything from tracking fatigue and heart rate to provide early warnings to force applied on knees and ankles — common areas of injuries for basketball players.
Although players aren't allowed to utilize wearable tech devices during games, they are during practices. That's where the Warriors are using a GPS-embedded compression shirt made by Catapult Sports. According to Digital Trends, the wireless GPS unit sits between the shoulder blades of the compression shirt, tracking movements from players and monitoring everything from heart rate to changes in direction and stress on knees and ankles. They're also reportedly using a device manufactured by Omegaweave, which links electrodes to a player's face to track heart rate variability in depth.
This comes in addition to NBA MVP and Warriors point guard Stephen Curry recently putting on a dribbling display using high-tech strobe glasses in a clip which went viral and teammate Jason Thompson using the ShotTracker app to count his shots.
The technology that the Warriors are relying on seems to be working, as Digital Trends points toward an ESPN study, showing that Golden State had fewer minutes lost to injuries than any other NBA franchise last season. Hoop fans will remember a full-strength Warriors defeating LeBron James's injury-depleted Cleveland Cavaliers in six games during the NBA Finals this past June.
Whatever tech advances that the Warriors are leaning towards on the court, they're seemingly interested investing in off the court as well. This past September, the news surfaced that Warriors forward Harrison Barnes works as a consultant for Facebook, while Finals MVP Andre Iguodala worked for Twice, which was acquired by eBay. Curry is also a partner with CoachUp, a private coaching website and sports matching service.
