Last February, during the 2024 NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, I found myself at the NBA Tech Summit, an event designed to showcase how the league is pushing the boundaries of innovation.
As I walked into the JW Marriott hotel downtown, the air was buzzing with anticipation — and not just because of the freezing Indiana weather. The room was filled with heavy hitters: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year awardee Victor Wembanyama, Michael Rubin of Fanatics and even billionaire businessman Mark Cuban.
It was a who’s who of sports and tech, and the topic of the day was clear: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its growing role in the future of sports.
The summit opened with a demonstration of the NBA’s AI technology, a system capable of analyzing live games, identifying specific plays and even generating promotional content in real time.
Commissioner Silver asked the AI model to perform complex tasks, like pulling up specific highlights from live games and creating a promo featuring Wembanyama’s face and likeness in a matter of minutes.
The room was a mix of awe and unease. Some marveled at the possibilities; others whispered concerns about ethics, privacy and the potential loss of jobs.
As I sat there, I couldn’t help but wonder: How far are we willing to go as a society to integrate AI into sports? And how far is too far?
Let’s start with the positives.
AI is already revolutionizing sports in ways that were unimaginable a decade ago. Take the NBA’s partnership with Second Spectrum, for example. The league uses AI to track player movements, analyze game footage and provide real-time insights to coaches and broadcasters.
Getty Image used for editorial "LeBron James 2099, the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in sports.'
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This isn’t just about making games more entertaining for fans — it’s about enhancing player performance and reducing injuries.
AI is also transforming the fan experience. During the 2023 NBA Finals, the league used AI-generated highlights to create personalized recap videos for fans.
Imagine logging into your favorite sports app and seeing a highlight reel tailored to your favorite player or team. It’s a level of personalization that is unmatched, that was once the subject of science fiction.
And then there’s marketing.
At the summit, Silver demonstrated how AI could create a promo featuring Wembanyama in minutes. If that doesn’t make you pause, consider this: Do we still need focus groups, marketing firms or creative directors if AI can do the job faster and cheaper?
The efficiency is undeniable, but at what cost?
As much as I marveled at the technology, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease. Existential dread. AI’s rapid integration into sports raises serious ethical questions. For instance, who owns the data collected by AI systems?
At the time of this writing, the New York Times is in the midst of a legal battle with OpenAI, the company that owns ChatGPT, surrounding ownership and copyright infringement. This legal kerfuffle is likely to be the first of many as we move forward into incorporating AI into sports, and ultimately, our everyday lives.
If an algorithm can predict a player’s performance or injury risk, how does that impact their career and earning potential? And what about privacy? Are we comfortable with AI tracking every move an athlete makes, both on and off the court?
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Then there’s the issue of jobs. If AI can generate marketing content, analyze game footage and even write sports articles (yes, the irony isn’t lost on me), what happens to the people who currently perform those jobs?
The creative director (a position I used to hold), the video editor, the journalist — will they become obsolete? Or will they simply adapt, finding new ways to work alongside AI?
How much longer do I have?
And let’s not forget the human touch. Sports are about more than just analytics and efficiency; they’re about emotion, storytelling and connection.
Can AI truly capture the magic of a buzzer-beater or the heartbreak of a missed field goal? What about a walk-off homerun against a team that slighted the batter earlier in his career? Or a big game after dealing with a death off of the court?
Or will it reduce these moments to cold, calculated lines of code?
The NBA Tech Summit left me with more questions than answers and more concerns than cares. How far will we go as a society to integrate AI into sports? How far ought we go? These are questions that extend far beyond the NBA or even sports as a whole.
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They’re about the future of work, creativity and humanity itself.
One thing is clear: AI is here to stay.
According to a 2023 report by Grand View Research, the global AI in sports market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 30.3% from 2023 to 2030. Leagues, teams and brands are investing billions in AI technology. The pace of innovation shows no signs of slowing down.
But as we embrace this new frontier, we must tread carefully. We need to establish ethical guidelines, protect jobs and preserve the human element that makes sports so special. Because at the end of the day, sports aren’t just about winning or losing — they’re about the stories we tell, the memories we create and the connections we forge.
As I left the summit, the cold Indianapolis air biting at my heels and forcing the water from my vision, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and trepidation.
The future of sports is being rewritten before our eyes, and AI is holding the pen. The question is: What kind of story do we want to tell?
Contact Multi-Media & Senior Sports Reporter Noral Parham at 317-762-7846. Follow him on X @3Noral. For more sports, click here.
Senior Sports Writer for the Indianapolis Recorder Noral Parham III.
Noral Parham is the multi-media & senior sports reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black publications in the country. Parham has worked with various leagues to provide a diverse perspective in sports, including the Big Ten, Big East, IHSAA, IndyCar, MLB, NHRA, NFL, NBA, WNBA, WWE and the Olympics. Prior to joining the Recorder, Parham served as the community advocate of the MLK Center in Indianapolis and senior copywriter for an e-commerce and marketing firm in Denver.