Sprawlball : A Visual Tour of the New Era of the NBA

“Beautifully illustrated and sharply written, SprawlBall is both a celebration and a critique of the 3-point shot. If you want to understand how the modern NBA came to be, you’ll need to read this book.”—Nate Silver, editor of fivethirtyeight.comFrom the leading expert in the exploding field of basketball analytics, a stunning infographic decoding of the modern NBA: who shoots where, and how.The field of basketball analytics has leaped to overdrive thanks to Kirk Goldsberry, whose visual maps of players, teams, and positions have helped teams understand who really is the most valuable player at any position. SprawlBall combines stunning visuals, in-depth analysis, fun, behind-the-scenes stories and gee-whiz facts to chart a modern revolution. From the introduction of the 3-point line to today, the game has changed drastically . . .Now, players like Steph Curry and Draymond Green are leading the charge. In chapters like “The Geography of the NBA,” “The Interior Minister (Lebron James),” “The Evolution of Steph Curry,” and “The Investor (James Harden),” Goldsberry explains why today’s on-court product—with its emphasis on shooting, passing, and spacing—has never been prettier or more democratic. And it’s never been more popular. For fans of Bill Simmons and FreeDarko, SprawlBall is a bold new vision of the game, presenting an innovative, cutting-edge look at the sport based on the latest research, as well as a visual and infographic feast for fans. Front Matter 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 7 Introduction: Mapping the Geography of the NBA 11 Area 31 13 The Ryan Anderson Contract 19 The Impact of the Line 20 Ryan Anderson Contract Specs 22 NBA Geography 28 Mapping the NBA Genome 32 Chapter 1. The Evolution of Steph Curry 45 Part I: The Origin Story 51 Part II: The Kerr Era 63 2015 Finals 71 Chapter 2. Pop Time (The Arms Race on the Outskirts of Town) 79 Paul Millsap 81 Pop Time from Baseball 83 Pop Time in Hoops 85 The Rise of Catch-and-Shoot 85 Chapter 3. The Investor (James Harden) 91 Harden as Investor 94 Crime and Punishment 95 Harden as Foul Magnet 98 The Rockets’ Offensive Philosophy 104 Getting to the Line 106 The Arc-hitect 106 Harden the Infuriator 109 Jabroni 111 Future, We Have a Problem 115 The Moneyball Aesthetic 118 Chapter 4. The Interior Minister (LeBron James) 125 The 2016 Finals 125 Game 1 125 Game 2 127 Game 3 127 Game 4 128 Game 5 130 Game 6 130 Game 7 131 The NBA Mural 135 LeBron, the Hype 139 “Here Comes LeBron James” 142 The Atlas of Lebron: Mapping the Rise of the King 145 2004–05: Improving His Close-Range Efficiency 145 Inventing Playoff LeBron 146 Defense Wins Championships 148 Learning to Score at Will 150 Swiss-Army-Knife LeBron 151 Taking Ownership of His Surroundings 151 Building a Better Jumper 154 Summer 2011: Hakeem Postgame 154 2012–13: Peak LeBron 156 The Second Cleveland Administration 159 Three-Point Assists 165 Hollywood Calling 166 Chapter 5. The Man Love Left Behind (Kevin Love) 169 Chapter 6. What a Time to be a Five 187 Brow-Draymond 188 The Draymond Rules 190 Central Inefficiency 192 One-Two-Three-Four-Five-Six 195 Chapter 7. The Future Aesthetic of the Game 199 Rule Changes and George Mikan the Player 200 George Mikan the Commish and Abe Saperstein 203 The Current Aesthetic 208 Changes: Adjust the Line! 213 Move It Back to 25 Feet? 213 The Data-Driven Line 215 The Corner Three 219 Custom Lines 224 Allow Goaltending on Threes 225 Fix the Two-Point Area! 228 Contact Rules 232 Back Matter 240 Acknowledgments 240 Index 242 From the leading expert in the exploding field of basketball analytics, a stunning infographic decoding of the modern NBA: who shoots where, how well, and why. Says Nate Silver: "If you want to understand how the modern NBA came to be, you'll need to read this book." The field of basketball analytics has leaped into overdrive thanks to Kirk Goldsberry, whose spatial and visual analyses of players, teams, and positions have helped us all understand who really is the most valuable player at any position. SprawlBall combines stunning visuals, in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes stories, and gee-whiz facts to chart a modern revolution. Since the introduction of the three-point line, the game has changed drastically, with players like Steph Curry and James Harden leading the charge. In chapters like "The Geography of the NBA," "The Interior Minister (LeBron James)," "The Evolution of Steph Curry," and "The Investor (James Harden)," Goldsberry explains why today's on-court product--with its emphasis on shooting, passing, and spacing--has never been prettier or more democratic. And it's never been more popular. For fans of Bill Simmons and FreeDarko, SprawlBall presents a bold new vision of the game, giving readers an innovative, cutting-edge look at the sport based on the latest research, as well as a visual and infographic feast for fans. "Beautifully illustrated and sharply written, SprawlBall is both a celebration and a critique of the three-point shot. If you want to understand how the modern NBA came to be, you'll need to read this book." --Nate Silver, editor, fivethirtyeight.com, and bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise **From the leading expert in the exploding field of basketball analytics, a stunning infographic decoding of the modern NBA: who shoots where, and how.**The field of basketball analytics has leaped to overdrive thanks to Kirk Goldsberry, whose visual maps of players, teams, and positions have helped teams understand who really is the most valuable player at any position.__SprawlBall__combines stunning visuals, in-depth analysis, fun, behind-the-scenes stories and gee-whiz facts to chart a modern revolution. From the introduction of the 3-point line to today, the game has changed drastically . . .Now, players like Steph Curry and Draymond Green are leading the charge. In chapters like “The Geography of the NBA,” “The Interior Minister (Lebron James),” “The Evolution of Steph Curry,” and “The Investor (James Harden),” Goldsberry explains why today’s on-court product—with its emphasis on shooting, passing, and spacing—has never been prettier or more democratic. And it’s never been more popular. For fans of Bill Simmons and__FreeDarko,____SprawlBall__is a bold new vision of the game, presenting an innovative, cutting-edge look at the sport based on the latest research, as well as a visual and infographic feast for fans. From the leading expert in the exploding field of basketball analytics, astunning infographic decoding of the modern NBA: who shoots where, and how. The field of basketball analytics has leaped to overdrive thanks to Kirk Goldsberry, whose visual maps of players, teams, and positions have helped teams understand who really is the most valuable player at any position. SprawlBall combines stunning visuals, in-depth analysis, fun, behind-the-scenes stories and gee-whiz facts to chart a modern revolution.From the introduction of the 3-point line to today, the game has changed drastically . . . Now, players like Steph Curry and Draymond Green are leading the charge. In chapters like The Geography of the NBA, The Interior Minister (Lebron James), The Evolution of Steph Curry, and The Investor (James Harden), Goldsberry explains why todayson-court productwith its emphasis on shooting, passing, and spacinghas never been prettier or more democratic.And its never been more popular. For fans of Bill Simmons and FreeDarko, SprawlBall is a bold new vision of the game, presenting an innovative, cutting-edge look at the sport based on the latest research, as well as a visual and infographic feast for fans. From The Leading Expert In The Exploding Field Of Basketball Analytics, A Stunning Infographic Decoding Of The Modern Nba: Who Shoots Where, And How-- Goldsberry's Spatial And Visual Analyses Of Players, Teams, And Positions Have Helped Teams Understand Who Really Is The Most Valuable Player At Any Position. In This Book, He Combines Stunning Visuals, In-depth Analysis, Behind-the-scenes Stories And Gee-whiz Facts To Chart A Modern Revolution. He Shows That, From The Introduction Of The 3-point Line To Today, The Game Has Changed Drastically. Today's On-court Product-- With Its Emphasis On Shooting, Passing, And Spacing-- Has Never Been Prettier Or More Democratic. -- Adapted From Back Cover Prologue: The Geography Of The Nba -- The Evolution Of Steph Curry -- Pop Time: The Arms Race On The Outskirts Of Town -- The Investor (james Harden) -- The Interior Minister (lebron James) -- The Man Love Left Behind (kevin Love) -- What A Time To Be A Five -- The Future Aesthetic Of The Game. Kirk Goldsberry ; Illustrations By Aaron Dana. Includes Index.