{"id":2610,"date":"2015-11-22T18:59:44","date_gmt":"2015-11-22T23:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/"},"modified":"2015-11-22T18:59:44","modified_gmt":"2015-11-22T23:59:44","slug":"nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 14, 1998.\u00a0 Michael Jordan hits a game winning jumper to capture his sixth NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls.\u00a0 The NBA celebrates its highest rated game in history.\u00a0 Everyone rejoices. \u00a0Flash forward 15 years and the NBA has yet to return to that same level of popularity.\u00a0 The Jordan Gap persists as Shaq, Kobe and others attempts to carry the torch.\u00a0 Despite their greatest efforts, the nation moves on to football, and NBA ratings generally decline.\u00a0 LeBron James seems to be the second coming, but more than 5 years into his career, the NBA still hasn\u2019t seen a resurgence.\u00a0 Enter big data.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the NBA invested in expensive infrastructure to enable state of the art statistical analysis never seen before.\u00a0 Leveraging technology developed by SportsVU, the NBA installs 6 cameras in the catwalks of all 30 arenas.\u00a0 These cameras along with a robust backend allow the league to collect granular data on every player\u2019s movements.\u00a0 The data collected includes speed and distance, touches, passing, defensive impact, nuances of shot making, rebounding opportunities and more.\u00a0 In short, it was now possible to go well beyond the \u201ceye test\u201d.\u00a0 Analyzing the data would allow people to better understand the individual performance and contributions of any one player in this team game.<\/p>\n

Installing the SportsVU system created value by offering universal access to never before seen data.\u00a0 The NBA was smart to install the equipment for all teams.\u00a0 While teams helped fund this infrastructure, the NBA helped with the cost and played a critical role in coordination.\u00a0 Instead of favoring big market or top performing teams, the NBA invested for the future.\u00a0 Universal coverage is great, but universal access was even better.\u00a0 Anyone from fans to general managers can access this data via websites like www.basketball-reference.com<\/a>.\u00a0 While the main audience is likely journalists writing about the sport, giving everyone access makes a democratic statement that can only help the NBA\u2019s brand image.\u00a0 Lastly, it can\u2019t be stressed enough how impact this new capability could be.\u00a0 The overall league increase in 3-pointers attempted can be largely attributed to this innovation.\u00a0 Many teams have overhauled their offensive schemes to enable more opportunities.\u00a0 Traditional big men have lost value in today\u2019s faster, \u201csmall ball\u201d game.\u00a0 This trend was at least in part driven by SportsVU.<\/p>\n

Value capture is effectively indirect.\u00a0 The NBA does not charge for access to this system.\u00a0 While it probably could ask for a nominal subscription fee, I don\u2019t believe it does so.\u00a0 Instead, the NBA is banking on the outputs from the data driving more interest in the league.\u00a0 Journalists on ESPN and Grantland routinely reference unfamiliar statistics leveraging this data.\u00a0 They also have to attribute the source, which further builds the NBA brand.\u00a0 Some have also argued that such rich data will enable a \u201cMoneyball Effect\u201d where small market teams can use superior analytics to better manage themselves and be more competitive.\u00a0 While there are no compelling examples of this yet, the theory remains.<\/p>\n

Moving forward, the NBA should continue investing in this technology but ensure that the outputs are helpful.\u00a0 Grantland, before it was shut down, did an admirable job of presenting the data in user-friendly ways.\u00a0 Consider this shooting chart for LeBron James.<\/p>\n

\"grant_r_lebron_shotchart11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s pleasing to the eye and relatively easy to digest.\u00a0 Compare this with some of the awkward phrases you\u2019ll find on ESPN.com and you can see how things could go awry.\u00a0 As with any case of plentiful data, the users will have to separate the signal from the noise.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2015\/06\/nba-data-analytics\/396776\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Player_tracking_(National_Basketball_Association)<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.eweek.com\/database\/how-the-nba-uses-big-data-for-a-better-fan-experience.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.digitaltrends.com\/sports\/nba-expands-sportvu-player-tracking-technology-to-all-30-teams\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 14, 1998.\u00a0 Michael Jordan hits a game winning jumper to capture his sixth NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls.\u00a0 The NBA celebrates its highest rated game in history.\u00a0 Everyone rejoices. \u00a0Flash forward 15 years and the NBA has yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":2611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[359,339],"class_list":["post-2610","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-sport"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/data-driven-value-creation-value-capture-and-operating-models\/","yoast_head":"\nNBA introduces big data to push league to next level - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"June 14, 1998.\u00a0 Michael Jordan hits a game winning jumper to capture his sixth NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls.\u00a0 The NBA celebrates its highest rated game in history.\u00a0 Everyone rejoices. \u00a0Flash forward 15 years and the NBA has yet […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"324\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/\",\"name\":\"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-22T23:59:44+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg\",\"width\":576,\"height\":324},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"June 14, 1998.\u00a0 Michael Jordan hits a game winning jumper to capture his sixth NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls.\u00a0 The NBA celebrates its highest rated game in history.\u00a0 Everyone rejoices. \u00a0Flash forward 15 years and the NBA has yet […]","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_image":[{"width":576,"height":324,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/","name":"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-22T23:59:44+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/110613_tech_576x324.jpg","width":576,"height":324},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/nba-introduces-big-data-to-push-league-to-next-level\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"NBA introduces big data to push league to next level"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/2610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/2610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}