Global perspective on the NBA restart

c/o Gary Dineen / NBA Entertainment via Getty Images

The NBA is set to resume its 2019-20 season inside the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida, and the league continues to boast about the sport being a global game in its own right.

Starting with its doubleheader on July 30 (31 in Manila), the remainder of the season and the playoffs will be made available to fans in 215 countries and in 47 languages, whether on television, computers, or mobile gadgets. In the Philippines, the league recently tied up with Cignal and SMART to satisfy Filipinos with their much-desired taste for world-class basketball.

The pandemic has forced the NBA to adjust, and as a result, the league is departing from its conventional 82-game schedule. 88 seeding games involving 22 teams who are in (and are still hoping to make) the postseason. Almost half of these games will be shown on primetime in Europe, the Middle East, and in Africa, making it a very early morning for most Filipino fans. If the situation calls for it, the play-in games will take place mid-August, with the postseason officially commencing a couple of days later.

League Pass subscribers can enjoy alternate feeds with new camera angles, enhanced graphics, in-language streams, and influencer commentary with a focus on areas like pop culture and music. While watching the game, one can also be subjected to in-game polls and quizzes to help provide entertainment.

Although the bubble will not have fans, they will have the chance to make themselves felt virtually. Over 300 fans per game will be invited to be part of the Michelob ULTRA Courtside's 17-foot video boards that are surrounding the court. Thanks to the NBA's partnership with Microsoft, those fans will have the chance to interact with each other throughout the game via the "Together Mode" feature available on Microsoft Teams. The feature removes fans from their individual backgrounds and brings them into a shared visual space that will be seen through the broadcast and in-venue. In that manner, it allows those fans the experience of sitting next to one another in a live game without the need to leave the comfort and safety of home. At the same time, players will be able to feed off their energy and support.

An alternative means of showing fan support is through the virtual cheering experience. One can digitally cheer for their team through the NBA App, as well as on NBA.com and on Twitter with the official team hashtags. These would then be reflected through the video boards and enhanced with graphics and animations that capture the level of fan engagement worldwide. For those who use certain social media applications, one would be able to conduct TikTok challenges, as well as "ground segmentation" augmented reality technology on Snapchat. The latter enables fans to explore a virtual rendering of the official NBA bubble court through a Lens.

On the court, there are 89 international players from 34 countries and territories currently rostered amongst the 22 teams. All of the teams have at least one international player, which includes seven of the record eight internationals who participated in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Dončić (Slovenia), Joel Embiid (Cameroon), Rudy Gobert (France), Nikola Jokić (Serbia), Pascal Siakam (Cameroon), and Ben Simmons (Australia).

As for the eighth international, Domantas Sabonis (Lithuania) is currently sidelined due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He, in fact, has departed from the bubble to have that injury treated. The Indiana Pacers have not yet made a decision regarding his status, although he is on the roster.

Dončić is among the seven international players that the Dallas Mavericks will field for the remainder of the season, which is the most amongst the 22 teams. Canadians form the biggest block of internationals, with fifteen players. The French have seven players, whilst there are five players each from Australia, Germany, and Serbia. 

The NBA remains proud of their Basketball Without Borders program, with Embiid (BWB Africa 2011) and Siakam (BWB Africa 2012) serving as its crown jewels. An additional twenty more alumni campers made the season restart rosters.

An emphasis for the remainder of the season is the ability for teams and players to highlight social justice. With the league allowing players to wear social justice messages, select international players have taken up on the option and are doing so in their native languages. Once the league resumes, one can see those messages in Bosnian, French Creole, German, Hebrew, Italian, Latvian, Maori, Slovenian, and Spanish.

From a marketing perspective, the "Whole New Game" campaign will feature a series of three spots, kicking it off with "It's A Whole New Game." The spot will run throughout the seeding games on the league's live broadcasts, social media channels, and digital platforms worldwide. In addition, the spot is translated in over ten languages, including Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai, as well as Japanese subtitles.

The media campaign also brought together 22 international celebrities across the film, fashion, and sports genres, all of which shared their own "3 Reasons to Watch" the remainder of the season. These will then be shown on the different social media channels the NBA has globally.

In their effort to help address the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA has also conducted over 45 PSAs in nine different languages as part of the NBA Together campaign. Involving some of the league's players, coaches, and legends, the PSAs remind its audience about the core essences of preventing the spread of COVID-19, from proper handwashing and establishing hygiene habits, to wearing a facemask and conducting physical and social distancing. The league has gotten over 65 million views globally through its digital and social platforms from these PSAs.

The venue of the restart also happens to be the home of the Jr. NBA Global Championship, which serves as the global tournament for outstanding 13-14 year-old boys and girls. As a result of the pandemic, the event will take the virtual stage, capping it off with the Jr. NBA Day of Celebration that will take place within the restart. Over three thousand kids worldwide will take part in the proceedings.