Mar 7, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) steals the ball during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
James Harden–and Steph Curry, for that matter–undoubtedly, is playing like a legitimate MVP candidate. Throughout this season, the Houston Rockets and their General Manager, Daryl Morey, have been campaigning for Harden as the favorite that should win this award. The lobbying hasn’t gone unnoticed, both from basketball circles and within the analytics community. The remaining weeks of the regular season will determine the worthiest player for such honor, in what has been a virtually wide-open, hotly contested race.
A motif has materialized over the last few years: the correlation between Team USA Basketball and the NBA MVP. In fact, the previous four occasions that America won the gold medal in an international basketball event has, subsequently, led to the eventual NBA MVP having played in that summer’s team. Harden could very well continue this trend, which includes the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Derrick Rose.
The overarching nature of this analogue draws validity that should be applauded.
Yet, there’s another Olympic connection that underscores Harden’s MVP case that can be traced…
The 2008 Summer Olympics showcased several athletes, notably Kerri Walsh, wearing a layer of tape that the NBC broadcasters couldn’t identify what it was. This material happened to be a kinesiology tape–a completely different alternative to this Winter X Games method–serving as a clinical product that had been around for more than three decades, but only available to physicians and their discretion at the time. There’s never been a specific consumer-facing item available to everyday athletes.
With the assistance from a medical advisory board, KT Tape, a Utah-based manufacturer of sports medicine products, went on to develop a consumer version of this tape that was pre-cut, easy to apply. They included instructions in its packaging that anyone could understand in order for proper taping placement, especially without the aid from professional clinicians. Shortly thereafter, KT Tape was able to sign Walsh to an endorsement deal. Once she was onboard, they were able to take their first order from Eastbay, a division of Footlocker, within four months time off the Olympics.
“We evaluated the existing product on the market and interviewed practitioners who were using it to treat patients, which gave us a clear idea on how we can develop a superior product that would still be user-friendly for everyday athletes,” Jim Jenson, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of KT Tape, tells SportTechie.
“One of the first decisions was to offer the tape in pre-cut 10” strips, which is the most common length used in clinic–since the average person doesn’t carry specialized titanium scissors to the gym,” added Jenson, in terms of strategically constructing its form factor.
Moreover, KT Tape significantly increased the adhesive strength, so it would perform better when in the pool or shower. By offering the product in a variety of colors as well, its design angle intends to be viewed less as medical tape but more so, rather, as a fashion accessory. In 2012, they were then able to produce KT Tape Pro, an extra-strength version of the cotton tape made of synthetic microfibers that’s particularly stronger and supports longer.
Of the existing, traditional athletic tape and bracing products in the market prior to KT Tape, Jenson notes that they are “rigid and designed to lock down a joint to prevent range of motion.” The bulkiness and comfort factors to the end-user certainly plays a role for its adoption. KT Tape, instead, functions like an elastic athletic tape or an adhesive ace bandage. Thus, it supports sore muscles and joints without the bulk or limiting the body’s natural movement, easily flexible to be worn several days at a time, too,
Considering that KT Tape is lightweight and pliable, there’s a litany of common sports science use cases for it: lower back pain, knee pain, shin splints, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tennis elbow. The tape can be applied along muscles, ligaments, and tendons (soft tissue) to provide a featherweight, external mechanism that allows athletes to remain active during recovery periods from injury.
At its core, this tape enables neuromuscular feedback, also known as proprioception, that relaxes or facilitates stronger responses of muscles and tendons. This feedback circulation generates the support elements needed on its own, sans restrictive medical equipment that’s bothersome.
“Proprioception is the understanding of where you are in space. Kinesthesia is a part of proprioception; and is the body knowing where it is in space with movement. Pacinian corpuscles are skin receptors that respond to vibration. When they and other neuro receptors–which are in the skin–are compromised, then this decreases proprioceptive input to the brain,” Jenson explains the science involved.
“The brain compensates by trying to use the proprioceptive feedback from nearby areas, which then allows for compensatory strategies. This is why tape when placed in an appropriate tension lifts the skin to take pressure off of these comprised receptors, which, in turn, increases proprioceptive function,” continued Jenson.
Harden, conversely, has popularized the adoption of kinesiology tape across the NBA. He’s been sporting this adhesive at various points throughout his career, but has been wearing it more consistently over the last two years as a means to prevent injury–specifically knee and shoulder issues–and relieve pain:
Of course, even something like tape placed on a player’s body falls under the purview of the team’s training staff, pending the right consultation for such a product.
The Houston Rockets’ Director of Performance Rehabilitation and Associate Athletic Trainer, Jason Biles, informs SportTechie that basketball injury prevention focuses primarily on three key body parts: the foot and ankle, knee, and the lumbar spine. The sport’s inherent nature compels agility, power, and repetitive impact forces from the players, which, in turn, imposes common cases of sprains and tendonitis. Since the playing surface is less than forgiving than many other surfaces, the adequate training techniques and control of training volume should be accounted for.
The stimulation towards optimal movement through feedback and support aid in the comprehensive approach to rehab and injury prevention, which is where KT Tape enters the picture.
“Before KT Tape, we were limited to elastic wraps and more traditional taping techniques for support and edema control. We also used more medicated creams and patches to help with pain and edema management. KT Tape allows for more natural healing response from the body and promotes movement versus restricting movement,” says Biles.
“I like KT Tape as an adjunct to our therapy to assist in accelerating the rehab process phases: by supporting the injured structures, providing body awareness to encourage appropriate posture and movement, and for reducing swelling,” added Biles.
Otherwise, athletes have been known take numerous ibuprofen pills to placate these bodily needs. A drug-free pain relief option, like KT Tape, has been embraced by athletes across different sports. The improved sensory effect on the skin as a byproduct of the tape can diffuse pain, increasing lymphatic drainage in process, too. Unloading pressure and on extensive regions of the body gives kinesiology tape preference over other methods, given that it provides more options.
With respects to athletic performance, Jenson believes that KT Tape is an answer: “Players can stop worrying about pain and injuries, and focus on playing to their fullest ability.”
James Harden’s ascension to MVP status–Anthony Davis, too, with this functional apparel–can be attributed to medical advancements–at least to some degree.
When Harden, then, barrels down the lane, defenders shouldn’t just fear the beard–but fear the tape that lets him perform as well.
