The NBA’s Commissioner, Adam Silver, has been under a lot of pressure in recent months. On the one hand, things are going well: TV audiences are up; the league is booming globally; and we’ve been treated to some thrilling action as we reach the conclusion of the 2026 Playoffs.
But Silver is being pressured to act in some areas. One is the issue of tanking, which is the practice of teams not trying their best to win games, usually by not playing star players, in a bid to secure better positions in the NBA Draft Lottery. Another is the issue of referring, with many fans up in arms about how games are ‘policed’.
Some of this stems from the success of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning NBA champions, as well as from the team’s star player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That SGA is a brilliant player is not in doubt. He is the favorite in the current NBA MVP betting for a reason, but he draws a lot of fouls. He is what rival fans term “a flopper”.
AI could be introduced for calls soon
Silver has promised to start introducing AI technology to help referees get decisions right. It’s not all about fouls, as human refs will still be in charge of that (at least for now), so most of the technology will be used to deal with out-of-bounds calls, possession calls, and so on.
Is it the right way to go? Well, it really depends. Technology for refereeing in sports has had a patchy record so far. You can look at the rather disastrous rollout of VAR (video assistant referee) in Premier League soccer. Fans loathe it, claiming that it is too pedantic, slow, and that, above all, it can still get the calls wrong.
VAR isn’t the same as AI technology, but many of the hurdles are the same. Silver talks about AI helping speed up the process of decision-making – all fans want the ball to be on the court more – but saying it will and having it happen are two different things.
Secondly, there are some who argue that AI is not yet ready to make these decisions, at least with the accuracy it is supposed to. The idea is that AI will be used for unclear decisions, and while there is some evidence that it can be more accurate than the human eye, testing has also thrown up inconsistencies.
AI might not fix the main problem
There’s also the issue that AI won’t be used to address those areas that concern fans the most – fouling. Reportedly, the NBA has tested AI models on this and concluded that it would be better to have traditional refs make those calls, so that isn’t going to satisfy those fans who believe the game is being ruined by flopping and foul-baiting.
Finally, there is the sense among some that refs – warts and all – are part of the game. The NBA is not NBA 2K; it’s not a video game. It is a sport played by humans, in which errors – by both players and refs – have been part of the game since time immemorial. It’s not supposed to be perfect. Silver looks like he will go ahead with this, and that will satisfy some fans, but it could be a case of being careful what you wish for.