Infinite Loops

Ryan Resch - How Data Changed the NBA and What AI Changes Next (Ep. 327)

Infinite Loops

Show Notes

Ryan Resch, former Assistant General Manager and VP of Basketball Operations for the Phoenix Suns, joins guest host Jimmy Soni on Infinite Loops to explore what happens to competitive advantage when every team has the same data, and why the real edge comes from the questions you ask of it. Ryan traces his path from a cold email to Baylor coach Scott Drew to nearly a decade in the Suns front office and his current work leading data and AI in private equity. Show Notes Ryan Resch & Jimmy Soni Ryan Resch on LinkedIn: Former Suns Assistant GM and VP of Basketball Operations, now leading data and AI at 1949 Capital Partners. Connect with Ryan

Beyond the Dashboard: Ryan's Harvard Business School interview with Boris Groysberg on optical tracking, dashboards, and AI. Read the interview

Shore Capital Partners: The private equity firm founded by Justin Ishbia, where Ryan helped roll out AI tools. Shore Capital Partners

Jimmy Soni on X: Guest host, bestselling author, and editor-in-chief of Infinite Books. Connect with Jimmy

Teams, Leaders & Data Discussed James Jones: The 2020-21 NBA Executive of the Year, whose Suns rebuild started with raising the floor. Executive of the Year

Scott Drew: The Baylor head coach who answered Ryan's cold email and later had him build lineup data. Scott Drew at Baylor

SportVU: The camera system that brought optical tracking to every NBA arena in 2013-14. SportVU and the NBA

Second Spectrum: The machine learning platform that turned tracking data into tagged plays and dashboards teams across the league use. Second Spectrum and the NBA

Hawk-Eye: Sony's 3D tracking system, used across the NBA since 2023-24. Hawk-Eye and the NBA

Books, Shows & AI Tools Mentioned Moneyball by Michael Lewis: The 2003 book on the Oakland A's that frames how analytics moved from baseball into basketball. Moneyball

Hyperion by Dan Simmons: The first book in the sci-fi series Ryan is reading, and a window into how earlier writers imagined AI. Hyperion

The Founders by Jimmy Soni: Jimmy's history of PayPal and Silicon Valley, which Ryan handed out at the Suns. The Founders

TBPN and Dwarkesh Podcast: Two of the tech shows Ryan wishes he had more hours for. TBPN | Dwarkesh Podcast

Claude Code and Codex: The coding agents Ryan uses in a workspace built for agents to read. Claude Code | Codex

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