NBA plans to use AI for officiating in push for more accurate calls

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that the league plans to incorporate artificial intelligence systems to officiate objective situations during games.

A Hawk-Eye-like system

Speaking in an interview on ESPN, Silver outlined a vision in which certain types of calls, those that can be clearly determined by visual data, would no longer rely on human referees.

“It’s like HawkEye, where you quickly see where the line was and whether it was touched. We’re going to move to a system where that entire category of calls will be automated. Those decisions will be made by an automated AI system, with cameras positioned around the court,” Silver said in an interview on ESPN.

The proposed system would rely on advanced camera tracking and real-time data processing to instantly determine outcomes on plays such as out-of-bounds calls, goaltending, or whether a player’s foot was on the line. By removing the need for human judgment in these situations, the league hopes to reduce stoppages and improve accuracy.

“That will take all those so-called objective calls out of the hands of referees. It will be instant, it will be automatic. Play will just continue. You won’t have to deal with challenges on those types of plays,” he added.

The NBA has already experimented with technology in officiating, most notably through its Replay Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, and the use of coach’s challenges introduced in recent seasons. However, those systems still require human review and often lead to interruptions in game flow, something the league has been eager to minimize.

Silver emphasized that the goal is not to replace referees, but to allow them to focus on the more nuanced aspects of the game. He believes that with this system, referees will be able to focus more on the “more complex subjective decisions.”

Basketball is just playing catchup here. Tennis has already widely adopted electronic line-calling systems, while soccer and baseball have incorporated varying levels of technology to assist officials. The NBA’s approach suggests a future where officiating is increasingly hybrid, combining human oversight with automated precision.

While Silver did not provide a firm timeline for full implementation, he indicated that development is already underway and that the league is continuing to test and refine the technology. If successful, the introduction of AI-assisted officiating could mark one of the most significant changes to how NBA games are managed, streamlining decision-making, reducing controversy, and reshaping the role of referees in the modern game.

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