Walter Robert "Wally" Szczerbiak Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and current color analyst for the New York Knicks on MSG Network. He played 10 seasons for four teams in the National Basketball Association. Szczerbiak played college basketball for Miami University, a university in Ohio, and is one of five of the university's basketball players whose jerseys have been retired.
Ben Camey Wallace is an American basketball executive and former professional player who played most of his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Detroit Pistons. He is regarded as the greatest undrafted player in NBA history, and was known for his shot-blocking, rebounding, and overall defensive play. A native of Alabama, Wallace attended Cuyahoga Community College and Virginia Union University. In his NBA career, he also played with the Washington Bullets/Wizards, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jalen Anthony Rose is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' "Fab Five" that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both freshmen and sophomores.
Derek Lamar Fisher is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won five NBA championships. He also played for the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Dallas Mavericks. He has also served as president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
The player efficiency rating (PER) is John Hollinger's all-in-one basketball rating, which attempts to collect or boil down all of a player's contributions into one number. Using a detailed formula, Hollinger developed a system that rates every player's statistical performance.
Deron Michael Williams is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. A three-time NBA All-Star with the Jazz and Brooklyn Nets, Williams also played for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League during the 2011 NBA lockout, and was a gold medal winner on the United States national team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Marques Kevin Johnson is an American former professional basketball player and character actor who is a basketball analyst for the Milwaukee Bucks on Bally Sports Wisconsin. He played as a small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1977 to 1989, where he was a five-time All-Star. He played the majority of his career with the Bucks.
Advanced statistics in basketball refers to the analysis of basketball statistics using objective evidence. APBRmetrics takes its name from the acronym APBR, which stands for the Association for Professional Basketball Research.
In sabermetrics and basketball analytics, similarity scores are a method of comparing baseball and basketball players to other players, with the intent of discovering who the most similar historical players are to a certain player.
Statistics in basketball are kept to evaluate a player's or a team's performance.
Kevin Wayne Durant, also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in NBA history, Durant has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to 11 All-NBA teams, and selected 14 times as an NBA All-Star. In 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals was a professional basketball game that was played on June 14, 1998, between the visiting Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The game is widely cited as one of the most intense and iconic games in NBA history, and it is best known for Bulls superstar Michael Jordan executing a quick cross-over on Jazz forward Bryon Russell, and then hitting a jumpshot from behind the free throw line with 5.2 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter to put the Bulls up 87–86. Chicago then held on to win after John Stockton missed a 3-point field goal, winning their sixth NBA championship in eight years. Game 6 was the final game with the Bulls for Michael Jordan and coach Phil Jackson. This game earned, and still holds, the highest TV ratings of an NBA game of all time.
Donald Wayne Sloan is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies. Sloan played parts of five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets. He played in the NBA D-League and Chinese Basketball Association in between NBA stints.
In professional basketball, the most commonly used statistical benchmark for comparing the overall value of players is called efficiency. It is a composite basketball statistic that is derived from basic individual statistics: points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, and shot attempts. In theory, efficiency accounts for both a player's offensive contributions and their defensive contributions, but it is generally thought that efficiency ratings favor offense-oriented players over those who specialize in defense, as defense is difficult to quantify with currently tabulated statistics.
Drew Edward Gordon was an American professional basketball player. He spent most of his career playing overseas in Europe but also played domestically in the NBA G League and with the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Muthu Alagappan is a former medical resident known for his professional basketball analytics. He was born in England and raised in Texas. During college at Stanford University, he began an internship at big data startup company Ayasdi, where he leveraged their software on basketball statistics to determine 13 distinct positions of play. After he spoke at the 2012 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, several professional teams began to use the company's software. He was given the top prize at the conference, and GQ called his work both "a new frontier for the NBA" and "Muthuball"—an allusion to Moneyball baseball statistical analysis known for revolutionizing the sport. Forbes included him in their 2012 and 2013 "30 Under 30" list of influential people in the sports industry. His work has received mention in The New York Times, ESPN, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Slate.
Jordan LaVell Adams is an American professional basketball player for San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He was the first UCLA freshman to score 20 or more points in his first four games, and was an all-conference first-team selection in the Pac-12 Conference in his sophomore year. After deciding to forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the 2014 NBA draft, Adams was selected by Memphis Grizzlies in the first round with the 22nd overall pick. He played two seasons with Memphis before being waived after multiple knee surgeries.
SportVU is a camera system that collects data 25 times per second. Its aim is to follow the ball and all players on court. SportVU provides statistics such as real-time player and ball positioning through software and statistical algorithms. Through this data, STATS presents performance metrics for players and teams to use.
Zachary Curtis Lowe is an American sportswriter, journalist, and podcaster. After starting his journalistic career covering the criminal justice system in his home state of Connecticut, Lowe transitioned to basketball reporting and is today considered one of the premier columnists covering the NBA.
Sports analytics are collections of relevant historical statistics that can provide a competitive advantage to a team or individual by helping to inform players, coaches and other staff and help facilitate decision-making both during and prior to sporting events. The term "sports analytics" was popularized in mainstream sports culture following the release of the 2011 film Moneyball. In this film, Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane relies heavily on the use of baseball analytics to build a competitive team on a minimal budget, building upon and extending the established practice of Sabermetrics.
