Michelle Layne Lawson

FOR PLACING THE NBA IN THE PALMS OF OUR HANDS

FFIFTEEN YEARS into the mobile era, the apps for sports leagues were all serving fans with the same utilitarian, information-dense— and let’s just say it, boring—interface. Then the new NBA app checked into the game in September 2022.

Created by Michelle Layne Lawson, who has led design for the league since 2020 after stints at Showtime and Google, the new NBA app is more like a streaming or social media product. It mirrors the kinetic energy of basketball itself—with bigger, colorful typefaces, more white space, and an emphasis on full-screen video. These videos appear in a familiar vertical feed (like Tiktok) designed to maximize engagement. “I want fans to be able to access content in a friction-free manner,” she says.

Users might start by watching fullscreen video highlights of some recent games. But rather than stop there, the app lets them tap a button from that story straight into a related article or broadcast that’s also inside the app, and users can watch most games on their device via the NBA League Pass for $15 or $20 a month. (All content is created or licensed by the NBA.) Designed to allow fans to bounce around the latest league news without ever needing to leave, the app is racking up hall-of-famelevel stats: Video streams are up more than 200% since the launch, and

NBA League Pass subscriptions are up 50% this season.

Lawson says that her team will continue to add capabilities. “I’m looking forward to a year from now,” she says. “We have emerging [AI] technology on the horizon. How can we leverage that technology to deepen the fandom? It’s up for grabs.”