Here's another reason San Antonio is always on the cutting edge
The San Antonio Spurs aren't only the best franchise in the NBA, they're also pioneers in virtually every field that other teams are slow to grasp.
The most recent example? According to CBS Sports' Ken Berger, the Spurs were one of the first teams to enlist as clients of Catapult, an Australian company that monitors player movement.
"This season, 12 NBA teams including the Warriors used its monitoring device, which is about the size of a car clicker and fits into the lining of a compression shirt. The tiny device features a location-positioning system (indoor GPS); an accelerometer to measure stops and starts; a gyroscope to measure the body's bending and twisting; and a magnetometer to measure direction. Oh, it also has a microprocessor that collects and parses more than 1,000 data points per second, beaming them to the trainer's screen of choice in real time."
While a dozen teams used Catapult this season, San Antonio's been a client since 2011, when they joined the Dallas Mavericks as the first two teams to utilize the service. It's no wonder then that no team monitors playing time better.
There's no way to prevent injury in a professional sport, but it's worth pondering the effect this product had elongating Tim Duncan's career. It's just another reason the Spurs are special.
(h/t: CBS Sports)
Photo Credit: Soobum Im/USA TODAY Sports
