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Columnists Review NBA Virtual Reality Experience As League Jumps In On Technology

The NBA is "jumping in wholeheartedly" into virtual reality broadcasts, and two recent reviews of the VR coverage detail what can be expected, according to Jason Gay of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. After putting on the VR goggles needed to view the broadcast, there was a "bit of a Holy Mackerel moment, right at the beginning." Gay: "Instead of looking at the game, you are enveloped in it. The action is much closer, fluid, mesmerizing. It’s utterly unlike a conventional TV broadcast." The NBA’s VR experience is a "partnership between NBA digital" and NextVR and it "puts you in a pair of very desirable locations: courtside center court and then right under the basket." Gay: "Basically, the best seats in the house. It’s not a full 360-degree experience ... but it makes you aware of the stadium environment to your right and left." There are several "hitches" in the experience, as the coverage "still looks a tad unreal, like it’s 85% real life, 15% a videogame." The players "seem weirdly smaller than they actually are." Gay: "You also can’t watch it for a long time." However, basketball has a "widening world-wide audience, with a huge number of fans who are not likely to see a game in the flesh." VR is a "chance to approximate that experience, putting you a few feet from Steph Curry when you’re really 6,000 miles away" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/9).

CAUGHT UP IN THE ACTION: TIME's Sean Gregory watched a recent Trail Blazers-Knicks game in VR and noted he found himself "way too invested in an early regular season game between two middling teams." The broadcast "really places you courtside, providing close-up views of the players, refs, and fans." Knicks F Kristaps Porzingis at one point drove down the lane, and his "punishing left-handed finish, is much more vivid in VR." At one point, Gregory thought Knicks C Kyle O’Quinn "was going to fall" on him. From the camera behind a basket, viewers can "see a whole offensive play develop in front" of them. Gregory: "It’s catnip for hoops nerds, and explains why some sports teams are turning to VR for training their players" (TIME.com, 12/6). 

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