Research Note

Abstract

The Suns are set, and the fact of the matter is: they shockingly did not make it to the NBA Western Conference (NBAWC) finals after the visiting Dallas Mavericks stunned the top-seeded Phoenix Suns with a 123-90 Game 7 blowout. What an embarrassment for both the Suns and Verizon, which until last Tuesday at the Qualcomm 5G Summit was touting the wonders of its 5G network deployed at the Suns practice facility. During the keynotes, with great fanfare, Brian Mecum, Vice President of Device Technology at Verizon, walked us through the Suns team’s new training facility in Phoenix, Arizona, showing how the Suns leverage the power of 5G and multi-access edge computing (MEC) to optimize their skills and play in the shiny Verizon 5G Performance Center. We were also immersed in Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband that turns sport venues like the Phoenix Footprint Center into a true 5G arena and provides a best-in-class game experience for fans. Well, seeing the debacle at the Footprint Center Sunday 5/15, the Suns’ fans hated the experience and started to leave the arena by halftime. “We basically played the worst game of the season tonight,” said Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams. How can this be possible? LightCounting subscribers can access the full text of this research note by logging into their accounts.