I watched the '16 NBA Finals in virtual reality

Stepping into virtual reality is a strange experience at first. One-by-one you disassemble every element of the world around you. Swivel chair. Noise-canceling headphones. Light-blocking goggles. You feel a bit awkward; acutely aware that you've become little-more than a mannequin to everybody else in your former world.

But then, suddenly, you're transported. Standing there in the stadium, witnessing the most riveting NBA Finals series in recent history.

In television shows, different shots occur seamlessly every few seconds. Apply that same model to VR and the viewer would become sick with all the teleporting around, Kuschnir says. Instead, in VR, each shot lingers. Just enough time for you figure out where you are. Narrator Michael B. Jordan, the star of "Creed," politely ushers you from court side to locker room to television control room, each giving you a different flavor as the seven game series unfolds.

The NBA handed Kuschnir and his team unfettered access to make this happen, in large part because they see this futuristic technology as a potential jackpot for its increasingly global audience.

"The NBA Finals broadcasted in more than 200 different countries, but many of them will never be able to make it to a game, let alone sit courtside in a game," Jeff Marsilio, the NBA's Vice President of Global Media, said. "Most people in America probably won't be able to sit courtside…so this one way we can share our product with all of those people."

Neurological studies on virtual reality find the human brain is significantly more stimulated than it is watching television or a movie, and it's not hard to believe.

I was standing behind the net and felt my heart jump every time LeBron made another huge block. I could hear the fans on either side of me scream when Kyrie started dropping clutch threes. And after LeBron collapsed to ground with tears of joy after finally pulling it off - a clip we've all seen countless times before by now - you also can't help but get emotional. You weren't watching LeBron, you were with LeBron. You're close enough to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder. To give him a hug and say congratulations.

The technology is not perfect, of course.

The required wide angle lense cameras mean that things up close stand in perfect resolution, but that things in the distance become increasingly blurry. A VR headset also isn't an inherently social experience. It's something Oculus is trying to account for, but sitting alone in a room totally detached from other people and the internet simply isn't how people watch sports. At least not yet. And at $599.00 for one Oculus Rift headset, it's probably too expensive for people at this early stage.

But it's all still so new. Those problems will get figured out. It's not if people will start using technology like this, it's when. Sports leagues will start buying-in when they do, too. Can you imagine a day when each player wears a micro camera during a game that you'll be able to peer through?

The experience is simply too fascinating not to draw you in. It's one that stays with you. Even after it's all done, you feel your mind wandering, back to the time you were on the court when LeBron won Cleveland its NBA Championship.