Rumors

Silver said the league was even using artificial intelligence in its search for clues about why the injury happened so often this season. "I'm hopeful that by looking at more data, by looking at patterns, this is one area where AI -- people are talking about how that's going to transform so many areas -- the ability with AI to ingest all video of every game a player's played in to see if you can detect some pattern that we didn't realize that leads to an Achilles injury," Silver said. "We're taking it very seriously."

ESPN

In Game 4 of the series, LeBron James fell victim to Sony’s new Hawk Eye camera technology when officials reviewed a call at the basket and ultimately tagged him with a foul. It was one of several first-round calls that were overturned as a result of referees’ use of Hawk Eye technology. “There was a piece of camera work in the postseason, of our game in Minnesota, that I have never seen in my f*cking life,” James recalled on Mind the Game this week. “Where the f*ck did that camera come from?”

Awful Announcing

Rose Wang: We are beta testing a new feature with the @nba.com. If you click their profile picture when there’s a red border with a “live” callout below, you will be directed to the live content they are promoting. We aren’t trapping you in Bluesky. We want you to use Bluesky to discover what’s happening.

bsky.app

At its Upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall on Monday, NBCUniversal showed off some new features that are planned for Peacock when the NBA makes its debut on the streaming platform this fall. Among them are key play highlights, games, and optional realtime overlay stats and graphics.

sportsvideo.org

The first thing users will notice is NBC Sports’ effort to throw you directly into a game trough the “Live In Browse” presentation on the Peacock homepage. Live game action will play in the background on the home screen and will instantly stream at full screen when selected. Those tuning in late will be able to access highlights in “Catch Up with Key Plays” which is available on any device, including mobile devices.

sportsvideo.org

For Monday’s Peacock Exclusive Games, NBC will offer a curated show that places the viewer in a courtside seat. This “Courtside Live” feature is designed to display the atmosphere of the arena from one of the best seats in the house. It will also prioritize showing the viewer elements of the gameday experience like player arrivals, pre-game shoot arounds, and reactions of celebrities sitting with you in the front row.

sportsvideo.org

The NFL urges the Court to accept the NBA’s petition to review Salazar v. NBA, a case where the NBA is accused of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA) because a California man’s data was shared when he watched free videos on NBA.com while logged into his Facebook account. The NBA scored a dismissal of Salazar’s complaint in the Southern District of New York, but last October the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the dismissal and sent the case back to the trial court.

Sportico

Although a fan whose video-watching data is shared arguably hasn’t suffered a kind of harm the law ought to remedy, the VPPA provides minimum statutory damages of $2,500 per plaintiff. That might sound like a drop in the bucket for a multibillion-dollar league like the NFL or NBA, but the NFL notes that statutory damages can “add up quickly” in a class action where potentially numerous consumers are class eligible.

Sportico

National Basketball Association superstar Russell Westbrook is taking a shot off the court at simplifying funeral planning with artificial intelligence. The famed Denver Nuggets point guard on Wednesday announced the launch of Eazewell, a startup that uses AI technology to streamline the process for coordinating funerals. Westbrook founded the venture with former Charlotte Hornets star Kemba Walker and childhood friend Donnell Beverly Jr., who serves as president of Russell Westbrook Enterprises and CEO and co-founder of Eazewell.

CNBC

During the 1990s, Jim Fagan’s voice narrated the promos for NBC’s coverage of Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon. Now, he will do so again when NBC promotes its NBA coverage that begins again next season. However, the setup is rather unique because Fagan died in 2017. In an agreement between the network and Fagan’s family, NBC will use Fagan’s AI-generated voice to create modern promos with an old-time feel. NBC said it will also hire current vocal artists to complement their presentations. An official announcement of the agreement is expected later Tuesday.

New York Times

NBA Official: During Q4 of tonight’s #CLEatIND game, Replay Center officials utilized @Hawkeye_view technology to confirm the ruling of offensive basket interference committed by the Pacers' Myles Turner:

Twitter

A concert on Monday night at New York’s Radio City Music Hall was a special occasion for Frank Miller: his parents’ wedding anniversary. He didn’t end up seeing the show — and before he could even get past security, he was informed that he was in fact banned for life from the venue and all other properties owned by Madison Square Garden (MSG). After scanning his ticket and being promptly pulled aside by security, Miller was told by staff that he was barred from the MSG properties for an incident at the Garden in 2021. But Miller says he hasn’t been to the venue in nearly two decades.

The Verge

“They hand me a piece of paper letting me know that I’ve been added to a ban list,” Miller says. “There’s a trespass notice if I ever show up on any MSG property ever again,” which includes venues like Radio City, the Beacon Theatre, the Sphere, and the Chicago Theatre. He was baffled at first. Then it dawned on him: this was probably about a T-shirt he designed years ago. MSG Entertainment won’t say what happened with Miller or how he was picked out of the crowd, but he suspects he was identified via controversial facial recognition systems that the company deploys at its venues.

The Verge

Vu, who has low vision, didn’t see one play during the Blazers’ 115-99 win. But he felt every score, every turnover, every shot. The 32-year-old Vu used a haptic device that allowed him to follow the action in real time through vibrations felt through his fingers. The device was unveiled this season by Seattle-based OneCourt. After three pilot trials last spring, the Trail Blazers in January became the first NBA team to offer the service to fans. Since then, Sacramento and Phoenix also have been offering the devices at games. Using a laptop-sized device that has the outline of the basketball court, visually impaired users feel vibrations that indicate ball movement. An earpiece gives updates on the score, as well as the result of a play, whether it’s a steal, block, 3-pointer or something else.

New York Times