The United States men’s basketball team are Olympic champions for a fifth consecutive time after weathering a brilliant effort by 20-year-old phenom Victor Wembanyama to grind out a 98-87 win over a dogged France side on Saturday night. Less than 48 hours after [surviving a touch-and-go semi-final](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/08/usa-serbia-basketball-olympics-semi-final-result-paris-2024) against Serbia that saw their quest for a fifth straight gold dangling by a thread, the Americans overcame a superb 26-point effort by Wembanyama and a hostile crowd inside the cauldron-like Bercy Arena, where the hosts were hoping to become the first side to win men’s basketball gold on home soil since the US did so in 1996. Stephen Curry finished with a team-high 24 points, including four three-pointers in the final 2:47, to help the Americans finally break free of a persistent French side that never quite allowed their opponents to pull away. After the game, Curry, who finished 8-of-12 from behind the arc, said he had initially struggled with his shooting in the final but then “the rhythm, the avalanche came.” The United States improved their all-time Olympic record to 143-5, including 36-1 since their notorious flop at the Athens Olympics two decades ago. Durant, who finished with 15 points in his first start of the Olympic tournament, became the first male athlete to win four gold medals in any team sport. Devin Booker also scored 15 with LeBron James adding 14. But it was Curry whose long-distance heroics made the difference in the end, dazzling a celebrity-flecked audience that included Thierry Henry, Scottie Pippen, Megan Rapinoe, Gianni Infantino as well as Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. The four-time NBA champion and Olympic debutant, back in the national team for the first time in a decade, was also the hero of Thursday’s semi-final fightback, pouring in a [tournament-high 36 points](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/08/usa-serbia-basketball-olympics-semi-final-result-paris-2024) as the US won from 13 points down in the fourth quarter. The Americans have now won eight of the last nine Olympic titles in men’s basketball and 17 of 21 overall. The US extended a 14-point lead early in the third quarter after a back-and-forth opening half and appeared poised to pull away, but the hosts went on a 12-4 run that cut it to 72-66 entering the final period. When the 7ft 4in Wembayama threw down a tip jam that closed the US lead to 82-79 with 3:02 left, the roars inside the 10,100-seat arena rose to deafening levels. But that’s when Curry stepped up to close the show, leaving Wembanyama in tears as he left the court. Curry helped the United States to Fiba world championships in 2010 and 2014, but the 36-year-old never represented his country in the Olympics until this year. After Saturday’s win, the national team improved to 26-0 with him on the roster. Les Bleus were seeking their first Olympic gold after settling for silver at the 1948, 2000 and 2020 Olympics, losing the final to the United States each time. They have been knocking on the door at major tournaments for several years now including in Tokyo, where they handed the US [their first Olympic loss in 17 years](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/25/france-usa-mens-basketball-olympics-tokyo-2020) only [to suffer a five-point defeat](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/07/usa-basketball-kevin-durant-france-olympics) when they ran it back for the gold. They expect to be even better at the 2027 Fiba World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics when Wembanyama will be joined by the [top two picks in this year’s NBA draft](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/27/french-revolution-atlanta-hawks-select-zaccharie-risacher-with-no-1-pick-in-nba-draft), Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, as well as Nolan Traore, who has been projected to go in the top five in 2025. But on Saturday night, with a rollicking arena full of their supporters and a nation of 68m souls in their corner, they played second fiddle to the US juggernaut once again. France will get another crack at the United States on Sunday afternoon when the countries meet again in the women’s basketball gold medal game, where the Americans will be heavily favored to extend [their 60-game Olympic win streak](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/09/us-roll-past-australia-to-reach-eighth-consecutive-olympic-gold-medal-final) and win an eighth straight gold medal.

Thousands of blue and yellow Ukrainian flags waved proudly inside the Stuart C Siegel Center during Virginia Commonwealth University’s final home game of the regular season, all in honor of Max Shulga. The gesture on senior night meant a great deal to Shulga, making him feel at home in Richmond, Virginia despite being far from his native [Ukraine](https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine), as the country continues to experience unrest three years following Russia’s invasion. “It’s been all love since I transferred here \[from Utah State\] two years ago,” Shulga says. “I see it every game, and everywhere out here in Richmond. I really appreciate it and it shows a lot about our fanbase. It’s just one big family, and everybody supports each other.” With his immediate family members still residing in Kyiv, the entire VCU community has found meaningful ways to show solidarity for Shulga, from [chanting “Slava Ukraini,”](https://x.com/davewainwright_/status/1898106508967395437?s=12) a salute that translates to “Glory to Ukraine,” to preparing a meal that reminds him of home. Days before senior night, VCU’s executive chef Jennifer Taylor surprised Shulga by serving him borscht, a signature Ukrainian dish. “He walked in and he didn’t know it was coming,” VCU’s head coach Ryan Odom said during a recent press conference. “He saw the big pot, and he said, ‘If I grew up in America, there’s not a chance I would be eating this. But I grew up in Kyiv and I love it!’ He said his mom would make it once a week. He sat there and had a cup with his teammates, which is a neat thing.” On the court, Shulga, a 6ft 5in guard, was named this week [as the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year](https://www.wric.com/sports/max-shulga-named-atlantic-10-player-of-the-year/) and First Team All-Conference. Beyond sports, Shulga represents the resilience of his homeland as uncertainty surrounds Ukraine and US political relations, even after Tuesday’s [announcement of a 30-day ceasefire](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/11/ukraine-agrees-to-30-day-ceasefire-as-us-prepares-to-lift-military-aid-restrictions) in the war with Russia. In the same week that Shulga earned [A-10 Player of the Week](https://www.vcuramnation.com/articles/max-shulga-named-atlantic-10-player-of-the-week-after-leading-vcu-to-key-wins.3742/) honors in late February, an intense meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump at the White House resonated globally. In the aftermath, the Trump Administration paused military and intelligence support to Ukraine, before it was restored this week. Amid the turmoil, basketball gives Shulga a sense of solace as he finds personal peace while playing the game. “When I’m on the court, playing in the game, everything kind of just goes away,” Shulga says. “And I’m just in the moment focused on what’s at hand and what I’m doing in that particular game. Basketball helped me to just stay focused. Anything that has been going on, basketball will be my getaway, my outlet.” Shulga’s love for basketball began as a youth in Kyiv where sports was an important part of family life. Shulga’s father refereed Fiba basketball games, allowing his son to watch and learn from some of the best international players. Shulga’s grandfather also worked as a referee and his uncle played professionally in Europe. By age 14, Shulga moved to Spain, honing his skills while attending the prestigious Basketball School of Excellence and becoming a standout prospect by his senior season. He returned home before starting his college career at Utah State to lead Ukraine in the 2019 Fiba European Championships, an experience that gave him immense pride. “It’s always great to play for the national team, it’s a different feeling to just go out there with your brothers from back home,” Shulga says. “Playing for your country, and just having Ukraine across your chest, is a different feeling. It feels like you’re playing for something way more than basketball. It’s always an honor.” Shulga returned to play for Ukraine at the 2022 Fiba European Championships under different circumstances. The games occurred just months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, forcing the team to train in Italy. His on-court leadership provided a glimmer of hope as he opened tournament play with a stellar performance, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in an overtime thriller against the Czech Republic. Although his elite playmaking skills continued to evolve, the war began to take a heavy toll on Shulga during his time at Utah State. His former teammate Sean Bairstow informed Coach Odom, then in charge of Utah State, and his staff of Shulga’s personal struggles, prompting Odom to build a stronger rapport with his emerging star. “I’m grateful for the experience that he and I have had together,” Odom said at VCU’s press conference. “Max has done really well since that moment, and has weathered some different storms along the way, relative to the war and what’s going on there.” After his stint at Utah State, Shulga continued to gain momentum, improving in every statistical category after transferring to VCU in 2023 and joining Odom in his move to the East Coast. VCU began this season with the goal of winning the A-10 Championship and so far, they are right on track. Led by Shulga, who averaged 15.5 points per game and six rebounds, the Rams (25-6) finished the regular season as co-champions along with George Mason. They enter the A-10 Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament as the No 1 seed. “The mindset is the same as it’s been for every other game throughout the season,” Shulga says about the team’s approach to tournament play. “We just want to stay level-headed through every game and do what we’ve practiced and trust what we’ve practiced … Our goal was to win the A-10 Championship after we fell short last year. We all came back, hungry and just ready to compete for the championship.” This week, the A-10 Conference Tournament will take place at Capital One Arena in Washington DC, only a few miles away from where political leaders will continue to debate the Russia-Ukraine war and US involvement. It’s expected that VCU fans and supporters of Ukraine will fill the arena and wave Ukrainian flags to encourage Shulga and everyone affected by the war. While Shulga focuses on leading the Rams to an A-10 Championship and success in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the hope for peace and a return to normalcy in his homeland endures. “It’s definitely good to see that people care and are going outside to rally \[for Ukraine\],” Shulga says. “I’m not sure how much of a difference it really makes, but it’s good to see the support. It would be great to make peace as fast as possible.”

The [NBA](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/nba) may soon significantly expand its presence in Europe, partnering with basketball’s world governing body, Fiba, on a new league that the sides have been discussing for many years. Specifics are few, with the initial target – for now – a 16-team league. But the announcement made on Thursday by NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Fiba secretary general Andreas Zagklis is a major step forward after a long process. The league would probably use Fiba rules, such as a 40-minute game instead of the NBA’s 48-minute model, Silver said. But much of the other details – such as the teams and where they would play – will be determined in the months ahead. “We feel now is the time to move to that next stage,” Silver said, noting that NBA owners offered “enthusiastic support” for such a move. The NBA and Fiba, the sport’s global governing body, were in discussions for some time about adding either an annual competition in Europe or having an NBA-operated league there. It was a topic at a Board of Governors meeting this past September, one where Zagklis took part. “Coming out of the most successful World Cup and Olympics ever, we also believe it is the right time to take the next step for club basketball,” Zagklis said. In January, when the league took advantage of the trip to France to meet with European stakeholders, Silver said he believes the NBA remains “on track” in the process of expanding its footprint in Europe. That was also when he said the league’s governors would be briefed further at the March meeting. “The response we’ve gotten from the marketplace is very positive,” Silver said. Zagklis said Fiba’s leadership also unanimously agrees that it’s the right time to partner with the NBA on a new league. “Our role as a federation is to unite the basketball ecosystem,” Zagklis said. It is unclear how the new competition would fit into the existing structure of European basketball, which has a number of thriving and well-supported leagues across the continent.

Sue Bird is giving another assist to USA [Basketball](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/basketball), becoming the managing director of the women’s national team. The five-time Olympic champion was named to the newly created position Thursday and it marks a major change in the way the organization creates its roster and coaching staff. “I played for USA Basketball for so long and always really enjoyed my time with them,” Bird said. “I love representing my country. I love being competitive on that stage. To have that opportunity to do it in a different role is exciting.” [ Sue Bird – the basketball great’s career in pictures ](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2022/jun/16/sue-bird-usa-basketball-career-photos) Before the change, a committee made those decisions, but now in a move similar to what the USA men’s national team does, Bird will be the one responsible for putting things together. Grant Hill has the same role on the men’s side. “We are really, really excited about Sue for so many reasons,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said in a phone interview. “Her pedigree and standing in the sport is so strong. Not just in women’s basketball, but all of sport. She’s a tremendous leader and we’re very excited that she took this on for us.” The men’s team has had a managing director for two decades with Jerry Colangelo serving in that spot from 2005-21 before Hill took over. “She’s had five Olympic gold medals herself and understands what’s involved,” Tooley said. “Having the managing director position makes it easier to work with the staff for long term vision of the program. It’s hard to do that with a committee that comes and goes and gets together a handful of times.” Tooley said Bird’s term will be for four years – the same as the Olympic cycle – and the change to this structure has been in the works for a few years, well before the decision to not select Caitlin Clark for the 2024 Paris Games team that left some people upset. “Discussions happened after the ‘21 Olympics and Sue served on the board last quad,” Tooley said. “We got in discussions about the managing director role and we sat with her awhile and she gave it a lot of consideration and thought. It’s an enormous responsibility.” Bird said she’s used to the pressure of USA Basketball where it’s basically win a gold medal or bust. The Americans have won eight straight, including [one at last year’s Paris Olympics](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/11/usa-france-womens-basketball-olympic-final-paris-2024-result). “This is a different type of pressure,” she said. “I’m hoping to bring all that I learned as a player, all my experience, all my understanding. The whole goal is to win a gold medal and it feels at times that’s the only option. ... I know what it’s like to be a player, know what it’s like as a player to build teams and have teams come together and see what clicks.” Before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Americans will play in the Fiba World Cup in Germany next year. The first qualifying event will take place in November. Besides figuring out what players will be on that team, Bird will have to decide who will be coaching the squad. There is no clear-cut choice right now. “Of course I’ve started to think about it, jotting some names down here and there,” Bird said. “It’s the first priority without a doubt. There are so many qualified coaches in college and the WNBA.” Bird said that she doesn’t have a specific time frame to have a coach in place.

ASB GlassFloor makes a glass playing surface for sports arenas that can show animations, track athletes' performance, and repaint court lines with a tap. Pros in Europe are already playing on it.  The 2023 U19 Women's Basketball World Cup game in Madrid, Spain. The flooring has a giant LED display embedded beneath the glass surface, so the floor can show animations and change the look of the court in an instant.Courtesy of ASB GlassFloor I stood on an indoor [basketball](https://www.wired.com/tag/basketball/) court in Orlando, Florida, in mid-May, ball in hand and LeBron 15 sneakers on my feet, ready to run some drills. My instructor drew up a basic diagram for me to follow in my next drill using an [iPad](https://www.wired.com/tag/ipad/). He showed how he wanted me to start at the baseline, then curl up to the corner of the free-throw line before taking a pass and driving to the basket. Easy enough to remember. Here’s the thing, though: I didn’t _have_ to remember any of the words he spoke or any of the lines he scribbled. That’s because, as he drew on his iPad screen, his diagrams simply appeared under my feet. Anytime he wanted to change or remove the drill, he simply tapped the iPad’s screen, and everything on the floor changed instantly, illuminating my new route. The court was inside a demo facility for [ASB GlassFloor](https://asbglassfloor.com/), a pioneer in LED flooring used across several major sports. Over the course of an afternoon visit, ASB’s team took me through a catalog of visual experiences on their basketball court setup. Name an [NBA](https://www.wired.com/tag/nba/) team court design; they could swap it onto the surface we were standing on with one tap. Any practice drill template could be loaded onto the floor using ASB’s “Whiteboard” feature, a potential capability leap for basketball coaches and trainers. The company tells me that soon, these diagrams could feature active animations that change as the drill is completed. Meanwhile, a sensor in my pocket tracked my movements and created fun effects on the LED panels beneath me, like a trail of flames that flittered behind me as I ran. (This in-person demo was made possible by ASB covering some travel costs.) Nearly every NBA team has spent time on this same court, ASB says, as part of a practice gym arrangement in Orlando that’s involved team visits during the 2024-25 season. Company reps report incredible feedback, from players impressed by the court’s visuals to coaches and trainers who immediately fell in love with the Whiteboard and connected “Playbook” features. [One visit](https://x.com/OmerOsman200/status/1896945514052292915) from the Toronto Raptors went viral. These eye-popping visual elements, which also offer immense potential in areas like fan engagement and advertising, were what first caught my attention. But I quickly realized that this step forward in surface technology isn’t confined to flashy visuals. In fact, many of its greatest long-term impacts could be seen in tangential areas like player health tracking and deep game data analysis, made possible by the floor’s ability to integrate a variety of tracking sensors. A light-up floor on full display during a Champions League game in Belgrade, Serbia. Courtesy of ASB GlassFloor Giant Steps ----------- ASB GlassFloor has deep roots in sports surface manufacturing. The company was founded in 1965 as a drywall construction entity by Horst Babinsky in Germany under the name Trockenausbau Horst Babinsky KG. It initially broke into the sports scene by creating squash courts from high-density wood panels in the mid-1970s. Previously, high-level squash was exclusively played on plaster, and as Babinsky’s son Christof—now the company’s CEO—tells it, this innovation was initially scoffed at by squash’s governing bodies. When it came to market, though, wood was quickly judged as superior. ASB became a leader in squash court manufacturing and maintained this position for decades, including a mid-2000s introduction of a new glass-based surface and glass enclosure setup that’s become the standard for squash competitions worldwide. Christof joined the company to succeed his father as CEO in 2012, and ASB began focusing on LED surfaces. The first such product was a simple floor display called “ASB Multisports” that could switch between markings for various hardcourt sports like basketball, volleyball, and handball. By 2015 the company had also developed “ASB Lumiflex,” the fuller LED display court I dribbled across in Orlando. The company shifted focus to gaining official approval from FIBA, the world’s governing basketball body, during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it succeeded in 2022 when FIBA changed the rules for official allowable playing surfaces to include glass in addition to traditional wood. ASB’s first official FIBA event was the under-19 Women’s World Cup in 2023. Recent client installations include European basketball teams Bayern Munich and Panathinaikos, both of which have played all their home games during the 2024-25 season on ASB courts; NBA All-Star Weekend 2024 in Indiana, which utilized ASB for several events including the dunk and three-point contests; the University of Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness” event in 2024; plus several other pro and collegiate teams or facilities across multiple sports. Commercial and fan engagement opportunities abound with this technology, which opens the court up as a massive blank canvas. Some of the time, the surface appears just like a traditional parquet playing surface, with realistic images of wood panels. Suddenly, though, it can transform into something else. When free throws are shot during a basketball game, for instance, most players tend to spend 45 to 60 seconds standing on one side of the court. ASB clients can use the available space on the other side of the floor to, say, show a graphic on the shooter’s free-throw percentage—with an accompanying brand partner’s logo right alongside it. “This surface has allowed us to completely reimagine how we connect with fans and how we deliver value to our commercial partners,” Thanos Bichtas, head of marketing for Panathinaikos, tells me in an email. “Whether it’s dynamic intros with custom court animations, or live visual effects that react to big plays, we’re now offering a level of visual storytelling that transforms the arena into an interactive experience. Bichtas says the court has become a high-impact platform for brand visibility. “And crucially, it doesn’t disrupt the fan experience; it enhances it.” Infinity League, an indoor soccer league with teams from Germany and Italy, utilizes the glass surface to juice up the action. Photo courtesy of ASB GlassFloor Floor Exercises --------------- On my visit, I was shown a suite of kid-friendly activities that could turn these courts into educational hubs during school hours, from various scale renderings of dinosaurs and sea creatures to a feature that lets kids design mazes to run through. Bichtas says Panathinaikos has already used its ASB court to host a number of events, from brand activations to basketball skill clinics for fans—younger ones especially. Christof, a Go-Kart enthusiast, envisions an entire racetrack setup on one of ASB’s courts in the near future. “If you look at an arena’s infrastructure, it costs somewhere around 250 to 350 million Euros,” Babinsky says. “If you put our floor in there, that’s just about 1 percent more of the overall budget. But having that floor in there will allow the arena to be used much more often, because suddenly you don’t have an arena used for a home game every two weeks. No, you can have kids in there Monday morning.” “We’re working on a bicycle school; an insurance company in Germany will sponsor the use of the arena for kids to come in, in year three of their school, and learn how to ride a bike. And when a bus runs over your 10-year-old, there’s no blood splattering around. There’s a buzzer sounding, and it will be red and everybody will see why this happened.” A little morbid, Christof! But illustrative. On Your Marks (OYM), an elite Swiss training complex that works with national team athletes across over a dozen sports, uses the “ASB Multicourt” product to swap through various court line configurations in its three-court setup. By tweaking the displays, OYM can make the whole facility work either as three separate courts or one extremely large floor. “Click and immediately the lines are changed,” says Lucie Bischof, group lead of sales and marketing for OYM. “It’s super simple and works very well, and fast.” The University of Kentucky's Rupp Arena is transformed by the interactive surface. Courtesy of ASB GlassFloor This feature lets facilities with the full LED setup serve as an immersive proving ground. While his team only got a brief experience on the court for a practice before its “Big Blue Madness” event in fall 2024, Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope saw the potential to help his team prepare for road games in a whole new way: Experiencing the opponent’s court before actually visiting it. “Just being able to go for two days and practice on a floor that’s the same color scheme and the same font, the same markings as the road game you’re going to play,” Pope tells me. “I do think it’s limitless, the potential of this court.” Moments later, Pope mused about the court being used for giant replays—already a functional feature, ASB tells me. “So when you see me get a \[technical foul\] for saying the wrong word, you can see me in 60-foot size and there will be no arguing with what was said,” Pope joked. Sudden Movements ---------------- These visual features, though, might not even be the most interesting part of the technology’s prospective future. Things got interactive during another drill later in my Orlando visit. As soon as I crossed half-court with the ball, a “virtual defender” in the form of a yellow circle on the court “ran” out to “guard” me, forcing me to dribble around it and make a layup to complete the drill. This exercise can be done with up to five players and five virtual defenders at once. This and similar features are made possible by a tracking system set up in the facility. The walls of the court feature capture devices from [ShotTracker](https://shottracker.com/), a basketball data analytics company most active in the college basketball space. A ShotTracker sensor in my pocket (it’s typically in a waistband or sports bra for high-level athletes) connects with those capture devices and pinpoints my location on the floor. ASB reps tout the company’s ability to integrate any kind of existing player tracking system into its court setup, whether optical or sensor-based. Integrations like these open up a whole set of potential uses. Team practices could take on a new feel with a built-in diagraming tool at players’ feet. The NBA, for instance, maintains a leaguewide optical player tracking system accessible to all its teams; an NBA team using an ASB court could conceivably download an upcoming opponent’s recent plays based on this data, then ready itself for those plays by practicing with accurate on-court diagrams. Maybe most notably, though, these tracking integrations plus the nature of ASB’s court surface offer future potential in player health and injury prevention programs. The court surface, at least on its face, is much more conducive to long-term athletic use than wood. ASB claims its courts use glass that is 2.8 times more elastic than the hardcourt products found in the US today, which are primarily made from hard maple (29 of 30 NBA courts use hard maple, while the Boston Celtics use their traditional red oak). The surface is supported by an aluminum substructure with bearing points that reduce impact force horizontally. When running and jumping on ASB’s floor, I noticed a significant difference in the feel compared to my experiences on wood courts in the past. Seasoned athletes playing on it for the first time will have to adjust to it. With LED displays embedded beneath the glass surface, court lines can be redrawn in an instant, from basketball to tennis to the volleyball court shown here. Courtesy of ASB GlassFloor The court has a matte surface, which is achieved using a deep etching process, and is covered in tiny ceramic dots (under a millimeter apiece in size) that provide shoe grip. The company claims skin burns cannot happen on its surface; I made multiple efforts to prove them wrong, but never burned my skin even when sliding forcefully. Bischof tells me many OYM athletes who train at her facility, volleyball and handball players especially, love this feature. The LED surface reflects sweat in a way that makes it much more visible here than on a wood court, which is helpful for avoiding slippery spots. Sweat also evaporates off the glass faster than wood due to the slight amount of heat that radiates from the surface. Babinsky also claims that because his company’s surface is more forgiving than wood, it reduces the likelihood that a player will suffer some of the more common hard-surface sports injuries. Rubber shoe soles stick to typical lacquered wood, Babinsky says, meaning slightly more force is required from the athlete when accelerating or decelerating; ASB’s surface, however, avoids that effect while still allowing quality grip via its ceramic dot arrangement. “\[A player’s\] foot will not stick to the floor so much that he cannot move, and at the same time he has very good control and grip on the surface,” Babinsky says. I’m a far cry from a high-level athlete, but Babinsky’s claims hold water in my brief experience. That sticking effect with rubber basketball shoes on hardcourt is a real thing. (Any readers who regularly play basketball indoors are likely nodding along here.) The absence of that stickiness is notable in the ASB facility. Starting and stopping is that little bit easier. The pros think so too. “\[Our athletes\] say you have less strain on the joints and the bones,” Bischof says of conversations with OYM’s clientele. “If you run and if you jump, like handball players do a lot when they shoot at the goal, you feel that. You feel that it bounces more.” The real question here is whether these court features and anecdotal reports actually translate to lower injury rates. Initial data could be available soon: Both Panathinaikos and Bayern Munich have spent the 2024-25 season playing on their ASB floors at home and hardcourts on the road; ASB reps tell me both teams have been cataloging injury data on both surfaces and will be offering comparisons at seasons end, and the company hopes to build a further sample of similar research in the coming years. Favorable results in ASB’s direction could set the foundation for a major selling point: _Our surface will keep your players on the court more often, and for longer._ Babinsky envisions ASB’s surface one day streamlining load management analysis, tests that help identify athlete imbalances or injury risks ahead of time. This is a process that’s currently laborious and typically involves teams traveling to specialized facilities once or twice a year for multiple days of testing using force plates and similar tools. But it can be valuable for predicting injury, and would be that much more so if it was done more regularly throughout a given season. What if those tests could be done on a team’s own practice court, and took hours rather than days? “We want to partner with technology companies and build a training routine that the glass floor then aids in,” Babinsky says. “After a two-hour drill, you have a full load management analysis done. Injury prediction can go to a whole different level.” An NBA player sails above the interactive floor. Courtesy of ASB GlassFloor Like so many parts of the future of ASB GlassFloor and LED courts, it’s too early to say where any of this will go. There are definite barriers to more widespread adoption of these surfaces, and not just cost-related ones. The court’s elasticity makes bouncing a ball feel different than it does on a wood surface, for one; that’s no big deal to a casual baller like me, but it could matter a whole lot to the pros. An internal Panathinaikos survey showed that most of the club’s players noticed a distinct difference in their first interactions with the court earlier this season; it wasn’t an issue for long, though. “The transition proved to be remarkably smooth,” Bichtas relays. “All the players surveyed indicated that they quickly adapted to the new surface after only a short period of use. Importantly, there has been no negative feedback reported from visiting teams.” Could ASB courts someday be used for actual NBA games, March Madness, or other high-level US basketball? The company’s own reps recognize how big a lift this would be. It’s hard to imagine the NBA, a highly image-conscious league, allowing only certain teams to play home games on LED courts while others remain on traditional wood, as Panathinaikos and Bayern Munich have this season in Europe. Any adoption of the new flooring would likely have to be done across the whole league at once, which presents a logistical and financial hurdle. What about US arenas that host both NBA and NHL teams, and regularly swap between court and ice surfaces? These swaps often have to take place in just hours for next-day games; could ASB’s tech, which has required days or weeks to set up at previous venues, accommodate that? It’s clear LED surfaces have a place in the conversation about the future of court-based sports, but Babinsky isn’t intent on taking over the hardcourt industry entirely. “There will always be wood courts,” he says. “Our job is to elevate the market, to keep the sport relevant, and to make it more relevant so that even more wood courts can be sold. I’m looking forward to the first day when we have a wood floor manufacturer on the court as a sponsor.”

The Senegalese women’s basketball team has scrapped plans to train in the US for the upcoming AfroBasket tournament in the Ivory Coast next month after several players and team officials had their visas denied, Senegal’s prime minister said. Prime minister Ousmane Sonko said on Facebook Thursday that the team would train in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, “in a sovereign and conducive setting”. The West African nation’s federation said in a statement that the visa applications of five players and seven officials weren’t approved. “Informed of the refusal of issuing visas to several members of the Senegal women’s national basketball team, I have instructed the Ministry of Sports to simply cancel the 10-day preparatory training initially planned in the United States of America,” Sonko said. [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jun/21/senegal-womens-basketball-us-visa-denials-afrobasket#img-2) The Senegalese women’s basketball team is coached by Otis Hughley Jr, who was the men’s coach at Alabama A&M before resigning in March. Photograph: Michael Allio/AP The visa denials come amid a push by the Trump administration to have countries improve vetting travelers or face a ban on their citizens visiting the United States. Senegal wasn’t on that list of countries and it was not immediately clear why the visas were denied. A State Department spokesperson told the Associated Press the department could not comment on individual cases because visa records are confidential under American law. The travel ban includes exemptions for the World Cup, the Olympics and any “other major sporting event”, though it’s unclear what is considered a major event. The team is coached by Otis Hughley Jr, who previously led the Nigerian women’s basketball team. He was the men’s coach at Alabama A&M before resigning in March. Senegal, who were going to train in the US from Sunday through 3 July, have finished either first or second in four of the last five AfroBasket championships over the last decade and has won 11 titles in total. The tournament determines Africa’s champion, which earns entry into the Fiba World Cup next year in Germany.