Following Kevin Durant’s horrible Achilles tear in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban passionately called for the Association to adopt better technology to prevent these types of injuries in the future.
Now, Cuban is taking this a step further, saying that the technological breakthroughs that have occurred and will continue occurring should lead to fewer non-contact injuries.
“There’s new technology, sonogram-type stuff that allows you to analyze tendons,” Cuban said, per TMZ Sports … “But, it’s not advanced enough so we have to do some more research to figure it all out. So hopefully, that in the future, non-contact injuries will happen less.”
Cuban also said that new medical technology should extend the careers of players who have the skill to play long term.
“We saw Dirk [Nowitzki] play until 40 years, 21 years [in the NBA] … we’ll see more that. Luka [Doncic] coming into the league today, the rookies that will get drafted this year that are 18, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to play 25 years if they have the skill with the new advanced technology.”
It’s an ambitious goal, to be sure. Yet one cannot look at the way recent medical technology has prolonged the careers of current professional athletes and not believe more advancements could lead to an outcome like Cuban predicts.
One thing is certain: The NBA will look a whole lot different in 2040 than it does right now.