The emergence of group chats has become so big that at this point, even NBA teams have been reaping the many benefits of this simple yet highly functional piece of technology.

Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype recently surveyed a number of NBA players and coaches to discuss how group chats have not only been a very effective means of communication, but also, how it has become pivotal in building better team chemistry:

“It definitely helps to have everyone in one group chat because then everyone knows what’s going on and it brings the team together in some ways,” one Eastern Conference player said. “In my experience, it’s been a very beneficial thing.”

Aside from the obvious benefit of keeping everyone up to date, it has actually become an avenue for some of the more introverted players on the team to express themselves to the rest of the group:

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“It allows people who aren’t as outspoken to share their thoughts with the rest of the team,” said a Western Conference player. “Some players don’t like talking in front of everyone, so they don’t speak up during team meetings. But in the group chat, they can choose their words carefully, type it up and express how they feel. I’ve seen players who never speak up in-person decide to offer their thoughts in the group chat because they’re more comfortable.”

While there are still some caveats, it is apparent that the pros of group chats outweigh its cons. Most importantly, it provides another means for the team to build chemistry among themselves:

“You can usually tell if a team has good chemistry just by reading their group chat,” said an Eastern Conference player. “You can tell how close those guys are. If guys are constantly cracking jokes, sharing memes, having detailed conversations about life and stuff like that – and if the group chat is still very active when guys are at home with their family and friends – those guys are probably close.”

Players are humans too, and sometimes, a bit of kidding around (and gossiping?) is healthy — especially if it generally translates to better play on the court.