In 130 years, basketball went from peach buckets to the most lucrative sport in the world.
As a professional hockey player once said to me, “We don’t get that NBA money.”
Heck, the 3-point line is only 40 years old.
Approximately 25 million Americans play basketball, the majority of whom are young athletes.
Travel basketball has turned into a massive money maker (almost making high school hoops irrelevant in the path to a college roster).
Parents are willing to spend the money as a full scholarship, no debt, and NIL money is quite enticing.
U.S. families now spend more than $40B annually on youth sports, with spending on a child's primary sport rising 46% in just five years.
That scholarship isn’t quite FREE.
And it’s getting harder every year with the rise of international players.
Opening-night NBA rosters in 2025 featured a record 130+ international players from 40 different countries.
Basketball is getting big…
The Transformation of Basketball
Most people have this perception that NBA players continue to get bigger, stronger, faster, and taller.
But interestingly, the data suggests otherwise…
The average NBA height is 6’6’’ (2025), which is the lowest it’s been over the past 45 years.
The average weight in the NBA follows a similar trajectory.
Players are beginning to optimize their bodies.
And here’s what’s interesting…
The NBA became the first American sports league to utilize player tracking in every game starting in 2013 (when most of the heights and weights started to drop).
All of this was thanks to SportVU’s technology that collects data 25 times per second.
Since then, the technology has evolved from SportVU → Second Spectrum → Hawk-Eye…with computer vision, machine learning, and now 3D body tracking providing increasingly detailed information about what happens on the court.
This data led to information, which was then transformed into knowledge. Those two steps determined player value, which is what the GMs and owners pay for.
And as a result…
We got positionless basketball…where spacing the floor and shooting three-pointers are the objective.
This one technology COMPLETELY transformed basketball.
Let’s look at some other companies attempting to do the same.
Emerging Basketball Technologies
Basketball is at the forefront of technology, and the NBA is embracing companies trying to improve it.
Most of us reading this are probably familiar with NBA Launchpad. The NBPA even has its own Player Accelerator to help current and former hoopers jump-start their business ventures.
Connected Court
From peach buckets to double rims to shatterproof glass and now digitized backboards.
Huupe is providing metrics and the gamification of basketball with its smart backboards. They’ve raised in the 8-figure range and have even started adding mini-basketball hoops.
The basketball itself has gotten smarter…
SIQ Basketball has built a FIBA-approved smart basketball with sensors inside the ball that can track makes, misses, shot distance, release angle, spin rate, release time, and more. Its technology can capture 192 data points per shot.
And then there's ASB GlassFloor, who is building LED glass floors that can dynamically change court designs, display live stats/replays, and create interactive experiences directly beneath players' feet.
Another company to watch is Swish Basket, which was selected for the NBA’s 2026 Launchpad program. Its AI-powered sensor combines cameras, LiDAR, and computer vision to turn any basketball court into a connected experience.
While all of these are futuristic products in nature, it’s the data that they provide which is truly game-changing.
Data Analytics
While the NBA records every possible statistic, this is far from the case at lower levels.
Cerebro Sports has built what it calls the largest basketball box-score database in the world, covering more than 1.5 million players across youth, college, and professional basketball.
Then there’s Peripheral Labs, pushing tracking into another dimension. They use spatial intelligence to reconstruct live sports in photorealistic 3D environments with high-fidelity player and ball tracking. Another NBA Launchpad company.
And ShotTracker is pushing this further by combining sensors, video, and AI to automatically capture on-court activity and turn it into real-time analytics and coaching insights.
And then you have the analytics/camera companies, which I covered in deeper detail in this past newsletter…
Synergy Sports has been a major player for some time now combining video, advanced analytics, and player tracking.
SportsVisio is taking this technology down-market, using computer vision to turn ordinary game film into box scores, player highlights, shot charts and advanced analytics without sensors or manual stat tracking.
You also have AirPlAi that is making waves across basketball of late.
While in-person evaluation isn’t going away anytime soon, data is increasingly becoming the first filter for recruiting and scouting.
Coaching
Getting access to the best trainers and drills is becoming easier than ever before.
Homecourt AI is a personal skills trainer that captures performance and then provides users with guided feedback.
While Noah has developed an app that allows players to correct their shots in real-time (they’ve analyzed over 570M+ shots to date).
Both applications use smartphones and AI to help users improve their games.
Keep in mind only 5,000 players have ever set foot on an NBA court…every advantage matters.
Ballogy has evolved beyond its assessment app to now incorporating shot tracking, weight-room analysis, drills, wearables, and recruiting profiles
It will be interesting to see if these technologies arose out of virtual necessity these last few years, or if they’re what the market is truly asking for.
Alternative Basketball Leagues
While the NBA is a behemoth…
Power 5 college basketball continues to get bigger, and pro leagues in other countries have started to get more attention (especially in Europe).
But other forms of basketball have emerged…
The Big3 is a 3-on-3 pro basketball league featuring former all-stars, Hall of Famers, and world champions.
Then there’s Overtime Elite, which is paying high school athletes to play in their league.
I think they get hurt by the fact college players can now make money from NIL, but they’ve adapted a bit already allowing players to postpone the money and keep their collegiate eligibility.
Unrivaled recently raised more capital at a $650m valuation for their women’s 3x3 league.
We’ve also seen TBT Basketball create a cool viewing option and The Drew League come back online.
At the end of the day, sports are entertainment.
Alternative leagues are trying to capture that in basketball at different ends of the spectrum (and it seems to be working).
Looking Ahead
Basketball is a sport at the forefront of technology.
And a lot of that is thanks to the NBA being an analytical league focused on global growth and novel solutions.
So much good stuff is taking place:
Innovative companies are using the latest tech to help transform the game.
Organizations are being run like startups. (ex. Golden State Warriors)
Coaches, trainers, and GMs are making more and more decisions based on data.
Players are optimizing their bodies and skills to match where the game is at.
And on top of all this…
Basketball players are reshaping how people see athletes.
Hoopers like LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma are their own global business empires… investing their money in tech startups, distributing media, starting companies, and a whole lot more.
I’m excited for the future of basketball and the evolution of the technologies that keep transforming the game!
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