SACRAMENTO -- Data analytics drive the modern world, and sports is the perfect intersection of raw stats as well as volatile, real world scenarios. Ever since Michael Lewis' Money Ball the sports world has been chasing the high of statistical optimization for decades. To accomplish this, they build partnerships.

It no secret that the NBA has a long-standing relationship with SAP, who's HANA platform powers their stats website. But now, they reach for dark magic. They need an all-seeing eye to focus on their players. What scrying tool would be better for the job than Palanitr, the shadowy analytics company which has worked its way deep into the US government and other organizations world-wide.

The NBA needs to track deep stats that don't yet exist to better identify talent that they don't even know they have. EFG% is no longer enough. Obscure stats such as FT2DR (Free Throws to Dunk Ratio) and P2F^2 (Packs / (Flagrant2^2) which more track player's personality and in-game attitude. These meta meta metrics will distinguish the next generation of player.

This partnership has been met with controversy. Palantir's association with tracking immigrants with ICE partnerships, and huge, sweeping government contracts were already unpopular in the court of public opinion. But now, this toxic brand is embedded deep within the NBA. Will they be able to survive the heat as they extract more and more data-driven value from their players?

The most touchy part of the contract is Palantir's commitment to rely on their broad surveillance technologies to track players off-court. This includes GPS data, text messages, tracking cross-platform usage using PII, and more. This has been met with outrage within the franchises, with many players bemoaning this new level of personal scrutiny. If Ja Morant could understand the terms, he'd be outraged.

The next controversial contract that the NBA has lined up? Their next technology-driven transformation is relying on Anduril's autonomous drone technology to film and optimize real-time game footage. A side effect? Tracking stadium attendance and individual customer purchase rate using facial recognition technology.

The future is here, old man.

Palantir's stock is down after the announcement, but that is related to a series of blog posts by Michael Burry (famous from a different Michael Lewis book)