By Rory Carroll
May 27 (Reuters) – 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.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Peter Rutherford)