Online Reporter
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league will use AI to automate a category of calls such as out-of-bounds decisions to speed up games and reduce disputes over possession.
Silver compared the system to Hawk-Eye technology used in tennis, where electronic line-calling quickly determines whether a ball has landed in or out.“We’re going to move to a system like that where that whole category of calls will be automatic,” Silver said on ESPN’s the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday.
“It’s going to be Laker ball, Knick ball, whatever it is. Those calls will be done by an AI, automated system with cameras lined around the court.”
The technology would make such decisions instantaneous and allow referees to focus on calls for contact and fouls.
“It will take all those so-called objective calls out of the hands of the referees,” he said. “You won’t have to deal with challenges on those calls.”
Silver did not provide an exact timeline for the introduction of the system but said it would be “fairly quickly”.The NBA has increasingly leaned on replay review and centralized decision-making to improve officiating accuracy, though reviews can slow the pace of games.
Silver said referees would remain essential for interpreting physical contact, where judgment is required to determine whether a player has been impeded.“There’s often contact on every play, but that doesn’t mean there’s a foul on every play,” Silver said. “That’s something that can’t just be done on camera.”
Meanwhile, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has been warned by the NBA for violating media access rules by not speaking to reporters after Game 5, the league told ESPN on Wednesday.The Spurs lost 127-114 to the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night and now trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals. A team spokesman said after the game that Wembanyama would not be available to media.
The 22-year-old center scored 20 points in 38 minutes on 4-of-15 shooting from the field — including 0-for-5 from 3-point range — and 12 of 12 from the free-throw line. He collected just one rebound in the first half and totaled six as well as two steals and three blocks.
The league’s history of fining players from not being available to media after playoff games includes Jimmy Butler III (then of the Miami Heat) and Dillon Brooks (then of the Memphis Grizzlies), who were fined $25,000 each in 2023, per ESPN.Wembanyama, an All-Star the past two seasons, won the Magic Johnson Award this season from the Professional Basketball Writers Association. The annual honor, created in 2001, is for the NBA player who best combines excellence on the court with cooperation and dignity in dealing with the media and public.— Reuters.
