The NBA Is Aggressively Integrating Artificial Intelligence Across Several Facets of Its Operations - Gadget Review
Missed calls when the ball goes out of bounds, betting scandals involving bets on individual player performances, and star players who help their teams without touching the ball but receive no credit in the box score are all problems the NBA believes technology can help solve.
The league is using artificial intelligence (AI) in three main areas: making better calls during games, watching for cheating and suspicious betting, and analyzing player performance. Sony Hawk-Eye, a Wilson basketball with a built-in sensor, and Amazon Web Services are key parts of this effort. Their technology could change how the game works and what fans see.
Making the Right Calls: The Smart Ball and How It Could Help
Camera-based tracking and a sensor inside the ball could help automate clear-cut calls that currently require long video reviews.
According to an NBA announcement about its partnership with Sony, Hawk-Eye tracks players and the ball in three dimensions with very little delay. The system supports detailed game analysis and is being developed to help make clear-cut decisions automatically, such as whether the ball went out of bounds or a player illegally interfered with a shot near the basket.
Wilson is testing a basketball with a one-gram sensor built inside it, according to Yahoo Sports. The sensor measures the ball's movement, spin, and path through the air. Tests have taken place in the G League, Summer League, and preseason games. Players have reportedly said they cannot feel a difference when using the ball.
The possible uses are clear. The sensor could identify which team touched the ball last before it went out of bounds. It could also detect whether a defender's fingertip changed the ball's spin before a possible goaltending call.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has discussed the possibility of using the technology during regular-season games as early as next season, according to Yahoo Sports. However, no firm date has been announced. The smart ball is still being tested. It is a possible tool to help referees, not a system that currently makes official, final calls in NBA games.
Draymond Green said that “this is AI continuing to creep into basketball.” He criticized this direction but also recognized that technology could help reduce human mistakes, according to Yahoo Sports. The proposed plan would leave referees in charge of decisions that require judgment, especially whether players made illegal physical contact. Automated systems could handle facts that can be measured, such as the ball's location and path.
Beyond the Box Score: Watching for Betting Problems and Measuring More of the Game
An internal AI system and advanced tracking tools are helping the NBA monitor both betting activity and details of what happens during games.
According to CNBC, the NBA has created an internal AI platform that combines basketball data, injury reports, and information from social media about whether players are available to play. It also takes in data about individual bets to look for unusual betting patterns. However, people still handle the follow-up investigations and decisions about punishment.
This wider monitoring effort follows several high-profile cases involving Jontay Porter, Terry Rozier, Damon Jones, and Chauncey Billups. The league is also placing tighter limits on the types of bets its approved betting partners can offer. According to Yahoo Sports, this includes bets on individual player performances that predict a player will finish below a certain statistic, known as “under” bets.
CNBC has also reported on a program designed to protect players by finding and flagging harassment on social media aimed at athletes who choose to join the program. More reporting is needed to confirm how the program is being used and how well it works.
AWS is the NBA's official cloud computing and AI partner. Hawk-Eye tracking records many points on players' bodies to estimate how close defenders are, the conditions when a shot is released, and the likelihood that a shot will go in. According to NBA Stats and AWS documentation, this provides details that traditional statistics such as points, rebounds, and assists do not show.
“Gravity” analytics measure how much defensive attention a player attracts and how that attention creates chances for teammates. This includes plays where a star player never touches the ball. A reported metric called the “Leverage Score” uses models to imagine what might have happened under different conditions and then share credit among the players on the court. However, both metrics are estimates produced by models that rely on assumptions. They are not direct physical measurements of a player's value.
For fans watching at home, this mix of technology and human judgment could mean fewer breaks for video reviews and more detailed information during broadcasts. But presenting the information accurately will be important. Statistics created by AI models include uncertainty. How clearly the league explains those limits will matter just as much as the technology itself.