The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced a multi-year partnership to power the league’s next generation of innovation as AWS will become the Official Cloud and Cloud AI Partner of the NBA and its affiliate leagues, including the WNBA, NBA G League, Basketball Africa League and NBA Take-Two Media.
As part of the partnership, the NBA and AWS will launch NBA Inside the Game powered by AWS, a new basketball intelligence platform that will turn billions of data points into compelling insights and interactive experiences, reimagining how fans engage with the game of basketball worldwide.
Built on AWS’s industry-leading AI infrastructure, the platform will introduce a suite of features that enhance live broadcasts and elevate fan experiences across the NBA App, NBA.com, and the league’s social channels.
“Partnering with AWS provides us with an opportunity to elevate the live game experience through innovation and offer fans a deeper understanding of the game of basketball for years to come,” said NBA Executive Vice President and Head of Media Operations and Technology Ken DeGennaro. “AWS has a proven track record of delivering unique statistical insights and offering transformative experiences that will resonate with NBA fans around the world.”
“At AWS, we’re excited by the NBA’s vision to push the boundaries of what’s possible in sports,” said Francessca Vasquez, Vice President of Professional Services & Agentic AI at AWS. “This partnership will showcase how cloud and AI can reimagine the game of basketball – from generating new insights to creating experiences that bring fans closer to the game they love. Together, we’re delivering technology that not only enhances live broadcasts and digital platforms, but also transforms how players, coaches, and fans understand basketball.”
AI-Powered Advanced Stats
The NBA will leverage AWS’s AI capabilities to provide fans with live stats and comprehensive analytics during games. This new advanced statistics platform processes the NBA’s player tracking data, which analyzes the movements of 29 data points per player using machine learning and AI to contextualize in-game developments and generate real-time insights. Fans can deepen their understanding of the game by accessing new statistics via the NBA App, NBA.com and during live NBA games, including during NBA on Prime broadcasts.
Throughout the 2025-26 season, the NBA and AWS will introduce new AI-powered stats that capture aspects of basketball performance that have not been measured previously, starting with:
- Defensive Box Score: Reimagining Basketball’s Fundamental Metric
Defensive Box Score quantifies individual defensive contributions that traditional statistics cannot measure. AI algorithms detect which defender is responsible for each offensive player in real-time. Once the primary defender is determined, the traditional box score can now be enhanced by identifying the defender at the time each stat was recorded. Additional new metrics like ball pressure, double teams and defensive switches can now be viewed and tallied as well.
- Shot Difficulty: The Science of Shooting
Shot Difficulty transcends traditional make-or-miss statistics to evaluate every aspect of each shot attempt. The difficulty of attempted shots will be quantified with new stats such as Expected Field Goal % which takes into account various factors such as the shooter’s orientation and setup, defensive contest details related to pressure, interference, and each player’s positioning on the court. This new statistic gives fans a deeper appreciation for the skill and strategy behind every scoring attempt.
- Gravity: Quantifying the Invisible Impact
Gravity showcases what coaches and analysts have observed for years – how certain players create advantages for teammates simply by being on the court, even without touching the ball. This new stat measures the level of attention a player receives from the defense, including how closely they’re guarded with or without the ball, to quantify the amount of space they create for their teammates. This revolutionary system processes optical tracking data 60 times per second, using custom neural networks to analyze how defenders react to specific players, while factoring in real-time game context and historical data.
Transforming Basketball Intelligence
NBA Inside the Game powered by AWS will also feature a first-of-its-kind technology called “Play Finder,” which uses AI to analyze and understand player movements across thousands of games. Utilizing AWS services such as Amazon Bedrock and Amazon SageMaker, the feature will enable instant search and retrieval of similar plays, laying the foundation for future generative AI integrations built on player tracking data. Play Finder will help fans and broadcasters learn common offensive strategies and explore deeper insights by combining play results with advanced analytics.
A real-time alert system within Play Finder will enable commentators to instantly provide historical context and strategic insights, making every live game more engaging, educational, and insightful for viewers. NBA teams will have direct access to the ML models powering Play Finder to improve their front office and coaching workflows.
Future iterations of Play Finder will allow fans to explore basketball strategy with unprecedented depth on the NBA App.
Global Fan Engagement
The NBA App, NBA.com and NBA League Pass, delivering year-round NBA coverage and programming to fans around the world, will run on AWS. Through this partnership with AWS, the NBA will accelerate basketball’s growth worldwide by offering fans new and unique opportunities to understand team strategy and the concepts that lead to execution on the court. Additionally, the NBA and AWS will deliver in-language content and personalized experiences to fans across platforms.
The NBA’s partnership with AWS broadens its strategic relationship with Amazon. This season marks the start of Prime Video’s landmark 11-year media rights agreement with 67 regular-season NBA matchups streaming on Prime Video globally, and a suite of new interactive features set to debut. The first night of the NBA on Prime will feature a doubleheader on Friday, Oct. 24 during the first week of the season, with the Celtics visiting the Knicks (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Lakers hosting the Timberwolves (10 p.m. ET) in two rematches from the NBA Playoffs 2025.
