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Though Brown wasn’t specifically mentioned Tuesday, Stevens — a noted “numbers guy” — even discussed his mind-set on analytics, which many speculated became a factor into the decision to move the five-time All-Star. “Data is an important part of learning about what you’re capable of, and learning about your team, but it is a part of it. Not all of it,” Stevens said. “I do think that there’s a lot of room for eyes, feel, preparing for curveballs so you’re ready for that in any scenario.”
Basketball University: 2012-14 LeBron James had the largest positive rim FG% differential from league average of any qualifying player from any three year span in the play-by-play era (1997+) +15.8% on the 4th highest volume of rim FGA with the vast majority self-created off the bounce. Unfathomable.
They’ve done all of that while also being one of the most physical teams in the NBA and utilizing more versatile schemes than just about anyone in the league. Per a league source with Second Spectrum access, Miami switched on 38 percent of the pick-and-rolls they defended last season, which ranked third behind the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers. Additionally, the Heat were top five in switch frequency in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. Spoelstra also has been one of the league’s most prominent adopters of zone defense strategies.
Tommy Beer: Most points in the clutch in the playoffs over the past three years combined: 1. Jalen Brunson: 143 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 84 3. Tyrese Haliburton: 48 4. Anthony Edwards: 43 5. Nikola Jokic: 36 6. Cade Cunningham: 35
NBA Stat: Worst clutch 3PT% in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season (min. 15 clutch 3PA): 1. Cade Cunningham — 6.7% 2. Paolo Banchero — 10.5% 3. PJ Washington — 11.1% 4. Michael Porter Jr. — 16.0% 5. Russell Westbrook — 18.8% (via Clutch Numbers) #NBA
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Ray Allen: 'What's happened is we've lost the mid-range game and I hear coaches yelling no mid-range shots. And then we've lost post-up players. Bigs don't even have a place in the game anymore. That to me is the tragedy because now what we do is we have these guys that work in basketball offices that are analytic guys that sit here and say why we need to shoot more threes than twos. And they just they convince the upper management and everybody else that guys that never played the game, you should be shooting more threes than twos. And I just think, and here's the thing, here's the proof. Okay, so Golden State won, they shoot a lot of threes and Boston won and they shot a lot of threes and they lost because they shot a lot of threes as well. But this past year, look at Oklahoma City and Indiana. Both had guys that could shoot threes because you need three-point shooters out there and you set the game up, but they were killing on pick and roll in the mid-range. Yes. So when I came in the game, you had some incredible pick and roll players. You had some incredible mid-range guys. It was it was insane. You could learn so much from these these dudes and the game is just we've lost that. And that's an art.'
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, in attendance for the 2026 ESPY Awards at Lincoln Center on Wednesday night, took a swipe at one of the team’s playoff foes as New York looked to take home the Best Team award. “You can pick up all the analytics and statistics you want,” Towns said during a pre-show interview Wednesday with ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi and Christine Williamson. “Analytically, we should win this one. We should win this one analytically.”
"The league is overrun with strategy," an Eastern Conference scout said. "Honestly, I'm not sure how many people who work in the league are actually watching the games." "Yes, there are more graduate degrees in front offices now, but that's only part of the picture," a Western Conference general manager said. "The aprons force you to analyze all of your spending more and put more attention to detail on getting the most out of each salary slot. The owners put that into the rules, and the players accepted it. This is all a choice."
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Jeremias Engelmann: No player in the NBA lowers the points that his teammates score, while on the court with him, more than Jaylen Brown He lops off 4 points, per 100, from each of the 4 teammates that share the court with him
David Lee: stars tend to suppress their teammates' PPG, but they pair that scoring usage with hyper-efficiency (Giannis/prime Joel), influence high quality shots (Wemby), and/or suppress TOs (Luka). in contrast, a jump in Jaylen Brown's scoring output leads to diminishing returns for BOS👇
David West: I am neither insecure nor lack the intelligence to understand data. Im a fan of the game, a lifer if you will, but the nerd influence is too much. Style, nuance, individualism, mid range, post play, all gone. Dweeb based basketball is predictable. 3s or 2s, nothing else.