What started as an idea in a Brisbane garage has exploded on to the global sports stage, and is a powerful weapon in the latest NBA Draft Combine.
Gradey Dick is put through his paces during the NBA Draft using Brisbane company VALD Performance’s technology. Video: Twitter/NBA Draft
The NBA’s 2023 Draft Combine ends on Sunday, and an Australian health-and-sports technology company is at the epicentre of American basketball’s search for a title-winning $1 billion superstar.
Consensus No.1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama isn’t expected to be in attendance, but this year’s NBA Combine is still rated by American pundits as one of the most exciting in two decades since LA Lakers legend LeBron was picked up in 2003.
And it’s the state-of-the-art technology devised by Brisbane-based firm VALD Performance that American sport’s biggest clubs in the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball are relying on to unearth their next generational talent.
The NBA is using VALD’s SmartSpeed Plus timing gates for their performance testing at this year’s Draft Combine.
A video of the technology shared by the NBA Draft received 10.1 million view on Twitter (see above).
Of the 78 trialists, 58 will secure spots for this year’s NBA Draft and they will undergo a series of shooting, strength and agility exercises, including the box-agility drill that will be measured by the revolutionary Australian technology.
The SmartSpeed Plus tool measures how quickly NBA hopefuls can complete a square-shaped running drill in a specific sequence, with their splits for each section of the course calculated to within a thousandth of a second.
Production co-ordinator Annie Wei (left) and production manager Ellice Tran working on VALD dynamo manufacturing at their facility in Newstead.
This data, combined with a battery of other tests, will help NBA teams determine which young guns they want to prioritise for their selections in next month’s Draft in New York.
Once a small-time operation, it is understood VALD is on track to become a $1 billion Australian company, with CEO Laurie Malone lauding the Brisbane brains-trust that has won over America’s $71 billion sports market.
“This demonstrates how valuable objective testing is to decision-making for basketball and other sports,” said VALD co-founder Malone.
“Our testing technologies are used by more than 75 per cent of professional franchises across US Sports, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB and is now considered the gold standard for assessing many aspects of athletes’ performance.”
The Australian firm also provides equipment and technological aids to assist NBA and NFL clubs assess human movement and help their stars reduce the risk of injury.
Their NordBord product can test hamstring strength, while NBA and NFL clubs use ForceDecks to measure vertical jump height and lower-line power.
“Twenty eight out of 30 NBA franchises use a suite of VALD technology, including the ForceFrame for testing hip and shoulder strength,” Malone said.
“SmartSpeed Plus, which is VALD’s latest product, provides professional teams with a simple yet powerful way to perform fast and reliable tests that produce real-time, actionable results for analysis and comparison.
“The best athletes and teams demand the best technologies, so that’s what we always strive to make.”
VALD co-founder Sam James (front) with Leonardo Murabito on the ForceDecks using real-time strength 7 performance software.