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The NBA has invested in predictive analytics company nVenue through its venture vehicle, NBA Equity, with the league’s Head of Gaming and New Business Ventures, Scott Kaufman-Ross, joining as a board observer for the AI-powered startup. A graduate of the NBA Launchpad program earlier this year, nVenue is also launching a new collection of basketball micro-betting markets that will be licensed to sportsbooks.
“I didn’t build Reebok all by myself,” said O’Neal, who won three straight NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and another with the Miami Heat. He signed with Reebok in 1992 and made the brand popular with his first signature shoe, called the Shaq Attaq. Iverson’s signature shoes, The Question and The Answer, were some of the top sellers in the industry. He signed a lifetime endorsement and marketing contract with Reebok in 2001. “I needed A.I. to be vice president because if you’re a guard, you want to see a legendary guard,” he said. “I wanted to do a show that’s not scripted. Not polished. I wanted it to be real work.”
Rick Carlisle on news of Tom Thibodeau's firing: I thought it was a fake AI thing
Marc J. Spears: A “surprised” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on Tom Thibodeaux’s firing from New York: “Thibs went in and changed so much. You look at all that and what happened yesterday, I thought (the news) was a fake AI thing. No way possible. I know how the players feel about him, too.”
That reverence for greatness extended to another generational star: Allen Iverson. “To me, one of the BEST players that I’ve ever played with,” Kukoc said. “Just his size and the way he moved through the people he looked even faster… AI was different. If he could find a way to the rim, that was his first choice… AI was willing to go in and try to score layups and then get dunks and then get himself on the free throw line.”
The Rockets are partnering with artificial intelligence firm Theta Labs on a new AI agent called “ClutchBot,” which will be integrated into the team’s official website beginning with the 2025-26 NBA season. The bot will be trained specifically on Rockets and NBA data, enabling it to answer queries about anything from team news or statistics to ticketing and venue information. Theta and the Rockets call it a “mascot,” because it is named after the Rockets real-life mascot, Clutch the Rocket Bear.
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76ers use AI for input on team decisions
Pablo Torre Finds Out: 76ers president Daryl Morey says he asks A.I. for input when making team decisions. "We absolutely use models as a vote in any decision."
Local businessman Shawn Granberry, who hosted Friday's event at Oakstop, connected Brown and Trevor Parham, an Oakland activist who founded Oakstop in the spirit of what Xchange became roughly one decade before Brown's idea. They merged the two to form the Oakland leg of Xchange and have worked together since to form the business district that will serve as an incubator for development. Brown stressed utilizing A.I. to streamline processes, make business formation more accessible and formulate marketing strategies. "Our building at 1721 Broadway has three levels," Parham said. "On those three levels, we have a mix of spaces that are used to for training and events, and they also have office spaces and open co-working spaces, and what we plan to do is we also plan to renovate that building with a whole bunch of new offices that can serve that incubator function. So the overall idea is that you have a building that simultaneously houses nonprofits that can provide education and learning to organizations and individuals, but then you also have office spaces that can house those folks that are building those businesses."
Dwayne Bacon's top five scorers of all time: 'Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving'
Dwayne Bacon: My top five scores of all time? It’s gotta be Jordan. Michael Jordan number one. Kevin Durant. Kobe Bryant, for sure… That’s tough. I know them three is like the back of my hand, but of all time? Q. Is James Harden up there? DB: Things he was doing in Houston was like never done… To me bro I gotta go with Kyrie Irving. Kyrie is a better scorer than Allen Iverson. And I love AI’s game.
StatMuse: Donovan Mitchell scored 89 points in Game 6 and 7. That's 2nd-most all-time, behind AI's 90 points in the 2001 ECF. pic.twitter.com/zyORZu1tAp
Kyle Lowry: 'Allen Iverson was one of my biggest basketball influences'
How did you become a Sixers fan? Kyle Lowry: My mom. My brother. Everybody was a Sixers fan for sure. They loved Dr. J [Julius Erving], Armen Gilliam, Charles Barkley. I was a Dana Barros fan. It goes back a while. You had to watch them on [sports cable channel] PRISM. Only Philadelphia people know what that is. I was watching as many games as I could, NBC games, whenever. They never really was on NBC because they were never good for a while. But every chance I got to watch I would. Who was your biggest basketball influence? Kyle Lowry: A.I. was one of my biggest basketball influences. For sure my brother. But in the NBA, of course we all liked Michael Jordan back then.
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On Tuesday afternoon, Booker replied to an Instagram post from Nice Kicks that featured a video clip from the episode, where host Joe La Puma asked Shaq about his comments from January regarding his pitch to bring Booker to Reebok. "No, we weren't recruiting," Shaq said. "It was just everybody was bashing about his shoe and we was like, 'If you want a good shoe, holla at me and A.I.' I wasn't trying to be funny, like we don't do crazy things ... but if you want to be happy and you want a good shoe, holla at me and A.I." Shortly after, Booker responded to Nice Kicks' post on his Instagram Story, saying, "AI 'question' was cool but nobody wearing no damn Shaqs."
Michael Porter: 'The Denver Nuggets was the last team I ever would have thought I would have gone to'
But during a recent appearance on The Pivot podcast, Porter admitted that he didn't always want to be a member of the Nuggets. “Got drafted by the Nuggets. . .God works in weird ways cause looking back I could see the blessing but right then, I was just hot even after I got drafted,” Porter said. “You put on a smile for the cameras but deep down I'm hot. The Denver Nuggets was the last team I ever would have thought I would have gone to. I probably hadn't watched a Denver game since A.I. It was a tough night but looking back I guess you could see some of the good that came out of it.”
While Iverson's argument seems understandable, the very outspoken Stephen A. Smith doesn't seem to agree. In a post on X, Smith fired back on AI's claims regarding Bryant. “Kobe Bryant is not the second greatest player in NBA history,” Smith said. “That's just not true. It's just not! The points per game didn't equal LeBron's, the assists didn't equal LeBron's, the rebounds didn't equal LeBron's, the durability didn't equal LeBron's. He's (Kobe has) got more rings, but we can't ignore the fact the first three came with Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) in his prime — one of the top two most dominant figures in the history of basketball.”
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