Lens v20: Could AI have saved Mike Malone

Hello friends — real quick, before we dive into AI and Mike Malone and the best sneakers at the Final Four, we’ve got some big news to share. 📰

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Now, onto the big news in the Association.

Mike Malone is out.

A 47-win season, the reigning MVP in The Joker, and a locker room that—on the surface—still rode with him.

And yet, Josh Kroenke, Chairman of KSE, pulled the trigger.

On paper, the Nuggets’ numbers and placement in the playoff standings were still gold. But in sports, numbers don’t always tell the story—unless you’re looking at the right ones.

This is where AI can be the difference between reaction and reflection.

At SportsVisio, we’re building systems not just to display stats and highlights but to surface the invisible variables—the soft signals, the friction points, the player sentiment trends that front offices often feel in their gut but struggle to quantify.

Here’s what I whiteboarded out this morning on how AI-assisted decision-making could’ve brought to the Kroenke’s internal decision-making table:

Player-Coach Sentiment Index 

Natural Language Processing could analyze player interviews, pressers, mic’d up moments, and internal comms to measure sentiment shifts. Are players subtly frustrated with coaching rotations? Is trust eroding in high-stakes moments?

AI can connect those dots long before headlines do.

Rotation Consistency vs. Efficiency Score 

Beyond simple +/- stats, AI could track the effectiveness of specific five-man lineups over time relative to their usage.

Did Malone lean too heavily on lineups that looked good last season but underperformed this year? AI could surface those blind spots.

In-Game Adjustment Responsiveness

AI could assess how often a coach adapts mid-game and how successful those changes are compared to the league average.

Was Malone losing the chess match too often in Q3 and Q4 despite Jokic’s seemingly nightly heroics? AI could tell you that.

“Vibes” Data Layer

This sounds soft and trendy, but it’s not. AI could score locker room cohesion through indirect signals: social media interactions, engagement drop-offs, bench reactions, and even huddle body language. Culture leaves data trails.

At SportsVisio, we don’t aim to replace coaches or execs—we aim to augment them. To widen their lens.

What if Kroenke had access to a dashboard showing Malone’s declining trust index with his second unit? Or a hidden trend of underperformance in clutch-time decision trees? Or subtle drops in player engagement during timeouts and walk-throughs?

Maybe that same dashboard would’ve shown how Malone still had the locker room—or didn’t.

We’ll never fully know if Malone’s firing was justified. But we do know this: in a league where talent is measured in decimals and chemistry can collapse quietly, AI can give execs a longer runway to see the full picture before making a permanent call.

It’s not just about performance. It’s about pattern recognition—of people, not just plays.

That’s where SportsVisio is headed. And it’s where the smartest franchises are starting to look.

Player Spotlights

SportsVisio athletes are making noise—sharing highlights that reach audiences around the globe, connecting in ways they never imagined possible.

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Final Four Heat: The Best Kicks on the Court in 2025

Check out the sneakers worn by top players during the 2025 NCAA Men’s Final Four, featuring exclusive designs and colorways that captured attention at the Tournament. The startup/underdog in us loves that New Balance managed to be a part of the conversation without even being on the floor. Brilliant.

The Sabrina’s that UConn wore running wild through the Women’s Final Four also deserve a mention.

Congrats to UConn and Florida on amazing seasons and well deserved titles.

What we’re reading this week

• Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou: Football is going to be refereed by AI soon

• AI predicted an unlikely Masters winner in 2025. Don't bet on it

• Daryl Morey throws AI under the bus for disappointing Sixers season

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