A week after reports emerged that Philadelphia 76ers general manager Daryl Morey is utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance front-office decisions, his longtime friend and NBA analyst Bill Simmons is eager to highlight AI as the future of player evaluation in the NBA and beyond. In the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the Sports Guy shared his thoughts on how he envisions AI as the next frontier for personnel decisions in sports, noting, “I don’t think a lot of people have talked about it, and it’s not AI the way you think.” Simmons elaborated, “It’s for drafting and scouting. I think there’s going to be all these AI programs that capture demeanor, facial expressions, the way your eyes are, how you stand—just these crazy things that will be like, ‘this guy is more of an alpha because our AI program followed him and tracked him as he walked around a basketball court.’ I think we’re headed toward weird f***ing ‘Minority Report’ s***.”
Simmons likens the current state of sports to the early 2000s when quants first began infiltrating front offices. With the release of Michael Lewis’s book “Moneyball,” the dynamics shifted significantly. This period can be viewed as the pre-“Moneyball” era for sports executives savvy enough to employ AI for a competitive edge. Simmons believes that teams will increasingly measure emotions, personality traits, biometrics, and physical movements through AI programs capable of recognizing patterns. If teams, with the assistance of AI, can identify players likely to have longevity or be strong teammates, they may prioritize such individuals, gaining an advantage over competing teams.
“Let’s say I’m thinking about signing somebody who’s been in the league eight years,” Simmons pondered. “And I take all the video from their college years and the first two years in the league, examining how they moved and jumped. Then I can analyze their latest season’s video with an AI program to determine, ‘what do you see?’” While Morey’s comments have faced skepticism, Simmons seems to possess insights that suggest either Morey is not alone in his approach or his utilization of AI is truly pioneering.
If Simmons is correct, executives across all sports should reconsider their dismissive stance towards Morey and start strategizing on how to keep pace with the evolving landscape.
