Skip to main content

Silicon Valley Warriors: Draymond Green discusses technology’s growing influence on the NBA

draymond green talks technology and nba 1 head
HotelTonight
Golden State Warriors superstar Draymond Green sits in the top 10 in the NBA this season in assists but now, the enigmatic forward wants to help people off the court, as well. Digital Trends recently caught up with the popular Warriors player to talk technology’s influence on the NBA, how he plans to use tech to help people, and how Golden State’s specifically used it to reach NBA supremacy.

“One of my goals has always been to change the world and help people,” Green told Digital Trends. “Tech, it’s right there, we see it every day and that is what has changed all of our lives.”

According to Green, one of those tech companies helping people is HotelTonight, a free-to-download hotel booking app available for iOS or Android users. The app specializes in aggregating the best deals from hotels with empty, discounted rooms and then passes those deals on to travelers. Green recently shadowed HotelTonight co-founder, Sam Shank and helped answer a few customers’ questions while acting as a digital concierge for a day.

Shank told Digital Trends popular hotels such as The Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City always have rooms available late into the night, no matter how busy. HotelTonight helps ensure those rooms fill up, allowing the hotel to avoid losing out. Green says the app is a lifesaver for him since an NBA player’s schedule remains consistently busy and one minor change leaves a six-footer looking for a King size bed at the last minute.

“I use it a lot during the off-season because I am a very spontaneous traveler,” Green added.

“Tech, it’s right there, we see it every day and that is what has changed all of our lives.”

The Warriors’ current home — Oracle Arena — resides in Oakland, California, less than an hour from the tech capital of America, Silicon Valley. Green says the close proximity gives the players early access to emerging tech such as virtual reality.

“One of our owners had a virtual reality headset on our plane and said ‘you guys are not going to believe this.’ He showed it to us and said ‘this is where the world is going,'” Green recalled of his first time experiencing VR. “It’s so far developed now from where it was two and a half years ago.”

The NBA recently announced it plans to use VR to help train referees. An oft critic of officiating in the NBA, the typically loquacious Green had little confidence to offer regarding virtual reality’s ability to enhance the quality of the league’s refereeing. When posed the question of its perceived impact, he offered up nothing other than a simple, “I hope so.”

While Green is in support of the NBA using technology, he does have a firm stance on where he’d like to see a line drawn.

“Basketball is still basketball, at the end of the day and there are some things you just can’t do with technology,” Green said. “No one is bringing you stuff we’re you’re like ‘yo, we’re playing basketball, what are we going to do with this?”

The Warriors are also one of a few NBA teams who use emerging tech to help its already stellar performance. During the ’14-’15 NBA season — in which the team won the franchise’s first NBA title in 40 years — the Warriors used Second Spectrum’s machine intelligence software to track meticulous details such as the arc Steph Curry achieves in his shot, or how many times each player dribbled the ball.

“They’ll have the heart rate monitor and different types of things of that nature where they are tracking different data,” Green said. “It helps your recovery with knowing what to do in recovery. Whether that’s taking a complete day off, or coming in and doing a 20-minute bike ride.”

Green and the Warriors plan to move into the team’s new $1 billion Chase Center arena in San Francisco next season. The neighborhood may look different but with neighbors like Uber and video game developer Zynga within walking distance, Green should expect a heavy dose of emerging tech to keep rolling in.

Editors' Recommendations

The entire Beats headphone and earbuds range is discounted right now
Beats

Amazon is slashing prices on every single style and model of the Beats headphone line. From Buds to Powerbeats to over-the-ear headphone, every style is on sale. That's not to say that every color is discounted though. Check out all the headphone deals options below and grab the Beats you've always wanted.
Beats Studio Buds -- $120, was $150

The Beats Studio Buds offer the core essentials you could need from earbuds you might wish to take to the gym or use while on a run. They have a custom acoustic platform that promises powerful and balanced sound. More importantly for outdoor use, there are two distinct listening modes -- Active Noise Cancelling for blocking out all environmental sounds along with a Transparency mode for when you do need to interact with the world once more. It's ideal for those times when you want to zone out at the gym before remembering you need to speak to someone once in a while. There's up to eight hours of listening time with up to 24 hours when you combine the charging case. The earphones are also IPX4-rated for sweat and water resistance.

Read more
Need a great charger for $100? I may have found the perfect one
Voltme Revo 140 GaN charger in black color with a green Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra against a white background.

Mobile phone companies have divided views on the topic of including a charger in the box. For consumers, choosing sides in this debate has been relatively effortless. While the act has univocally annoyed buyers — and swelled Apple’s revenue by over $6 billion — it has also led to a boom in multi-port chargers that make for a superior choice over multiple chargers.

As an act of rebellion, I have turned to using multi-port bricks that can also charge my MacBook along with most of the phones I use or review, and GaN chargers have served me well over time.

Read more
The 15 most important smartphones that changed the world forever
Huawei P30 Pro and P30

If there’s any piece of technology that has made a significant impact on the lives of everyone, it’s the cellular phone —  specifically, the smartphone. It’s literally a tiny computer that fits into your pocket, and brings a plethora of information, entertainment, and lets you capture visual memories or be productive wherever you go. Pretty much everyone has a smartphone these days, for better or for worse.

But have you ever thought about which smartphones have been the most important and influential ones that shaped the rest of the industry? Let’s take a look at what we consider to be the most important smartphones of all time.
iPhone (2007)

Read more