The NBA is about to let AI take the wheel on out-of-bounds calls. Yes, you read that right. The same league that still debates what is and is not a “natural shooting motion” is now inviting robots into the argument.
NBA Commissioner NBA Adam Silver recently spoke on “The Pat McAfee Show” and confirmed that the league is heading toward an AI-automated system to review out-of-bounds calls, because apparently, human arguments on national television are no longer efficient enough.
“We’re going to move to a system like that where that whole category of calls will be automatic, where it’s going to be Laker ball, Knick ball, whatever it is, Thunder ball,” Silver said.
“Those calls will be done by an AI-automated system with cameras lined around the court, and it’ll take all of those so-called objective calls out of the hands of the referees. It’ll be instantaneous, it’ll be automatic. Just play on.”
“There’s often contact on every play,” Silver said. “It doesn’t mean there’s a foul, and they’re trying to measure whether that contact is impeding the player, how hard that contact is — it’s something that can’t just be done on camera. They’re actually feeling the contact because they’re there on the floor with the players.”
Silver on the ongoing flopping conversation, had this to say:
“I would only say that there’s a difference between selling a call, exaggeration and a true flop, which is where you’re actually fooling the referees.
“I think sometimes, even as I sit in the stands at games, players may be falling down, players may be reacting to a call. But then, to me, if they’re not fooling the referees, it’s like, ‘OK, the players are taught to sell calls these days.’“
So yes, basketball is getting closer to robot referees, and somewhere, a referee is probably thinking: “I trained for years for this, and I lost to Hawk-Eye.”
