NBA Integrates Artificial Intelligence Technologies Into Operations

NBA is heavily integrating artificial intelligence technologies into its operations to increase the accuracy of referee decisions, monitor competitive integrity, and perform performance analytics.

Sony's Hawk-Eye system aims to automate objective decisions such as out-of-bounds and goaltending by capturing player and ball movements in three dimensions with low latency. Meanwhile, Wilson is testing a basketball featuring a one-gram sensor that measures movement, spin, and trajectory in the G League, Summer League, and preseason games. Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the smart ball could be used in regular season games starting next season, though the system is not yet at a stage where it makes binding decisions. Draymond Green acknowledged that the technology could reduce human error while criticizing artificial intelligence's creeping influence on basketball.

NBA has created an internal artificial intelligence platform that correlates social media data and betting activity. This expansion of monitoring follows incidents involving Jontay Porter, Terry Rozier, Damon Jones, and Chauncey Billups. While Amazon Web Services (AWS) serves as the league's official cloud and AI partner, the Hawk-Eye tracking system maps defensive proximity and shooting conditions, providing data beyond traditional statistics.