NBA’s New ‘Smart Jersey of the Future’ Lets Fans Change Allegiances With Press of a Button

Latest Consumer Technology Products On Display At Annual CES In Las Vegas
Tech-savvy NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is up to new tricks by introducing a "smart jersey" during the league's All-Star Technology Summit.David Becker Getty Images
David Becker—Getty Images

For LeBron James lovers who can’t decide whether they want to wear their loyalty in the form of a Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavalier, or Los Angeles Lakers jerseys—then the NBA’s smart “jersey of the future” has your, er, make that James 23, James 6, and (again) James’ 23 on it.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver introduced a prototype of a jersey that changes players’ names and numbers with the push of a smartphone button to attendees at the 20th Annual All-Star Technology Summit in Charlotte, N.C. Friday.

Although Silver didn’t get into the mechanics of the wearable tech, his demonstration transforming a Stephen Curry #30 jersey to a Michael Jordan #23 jersey can be seen below:

But fair-weathered fans (or superfans who want to display every single team member’s name during a game) will, unfortunately, have to wait to buy the dream jersey. According to the AP, it won’t be available for another 20 years.

This isn’t the first time that the NBA has experimented with wearable tech.

Last season, Nike launched NBA “Connected Jerseys” that had a chip installed granting basketball fans access to team and player content in real time including pregame footage and music playlists.

Although Nike is the NBA’s official apparel partner, the Daily Mail reports that the clothing giant wasn’t mentioned during the “smart jersey of the future” demonstration.