The NBA is testing ‘smart’ basketballs. Here’s how they work

In a world where everything from refrigerators to toothbrushes can be connected, perhaps it’s unsurprising that smart basketballs are now in the mix. In this year’s NBA preseason, connected basketballs could be coming to a court near you. This week, the NBA announced it’s experimenting with smart basketballs during select preseason games. (It will also distribute wrist wearables to the officiating crew that will track things such as replay reviews and scoring changes.) But it’s just a test for now. Nothing the balls capture will be used during the games, including to help officials make calls, the NBA says. The hope, however, is that players won’t know whether their basketballs are connected or not. “We’re running a blind study, so players don’t know whether they’re using the [Wilson X] Connected Basketball or a standard Wilson Official Game Ball, and their feedback tells us whether the technology changes how the ball feels or performs in any way,” Tom Ryan, the NBA’s head of basketball research and development, tells Fast Company. An official NBA game ball [Photo: Wilson Sporting Goods] Wilson Sporting Goods designed the smart basketball, which looks indistinguishable from the ou…