This upcoming 2025–2026 NBA season will see significant enhancements in the way basketball statistics are presented to fans, courtesy of Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence and advanced movement tracking technology. A newly introduced platform named “NBA Inside the Game” will deliver detailed player metrics, enabling fans to observe individual defenders in action during offensive plays while also measuring the complexity of various shot attempts.
This innovative technology will monitor 29 separate body parts of each player as they navigate the basketball court. Although the exact body parts and the specific tracking methods have not been disclosed, AWS asserts that the data collected will contribute to an AI system designed to reveal “previously unmeasured aspects of basketball.”
Players will be evaluated not just based on successful shots but also on the difficulty of those attempts. A notable metric introduced is the Expected Field Goal Percentage, which forecasts the chances of making a shot by considering factors such as the shooter’s pose and angle, along with the positioning of defenders.
Another exciting metric, termed Gravity, aims to quantify the “advantage” that individual players contribute on the court. This involves analyzing both the offensive player and their defenders’ movements to assess how closely they are guarded and how these actions create advantageous spacing for teammates. Additionally, AWS will provide a new set of statistics focused on defensive players, titled the Defensive Score Box, which will break down conventional metrics like rebounds and blocks for the defending players involved in each play.
For fans seeking even more granular data, a new tool called Play Finder will be available, enabling users to search through NBA footage at the level of individual plays, complementing the detailed statistics offered on NBA Inside the Game.
These enhanced statistics will be viewable during live NBA game broadcasts, as well as on the NBA app and website. Real-time analytics are becoming increasingly common in various sports leagues; for example, the NFL and MLB utilize Sony’s Hawk-Eye systems for tracking play details, while Wimbledon’s introduction of Hawk-Eye for line calls surprised many traditional tennis fans.
This collaboration between the NBA and Amazon is not new. In 2024, the two entities finalized an 11-year media rights agreement, allowing Prime Video to stream 66 NBA regular-season games annually. The first game under this agreement is set for October 24th. Additionally, this partnership established AWS as the official cloud and AI partner for the NBA and its affiliated leagues, including the WNBA.
