How Technology Changed the NBA

In 2014, Steve Kerr took over as the head coach for the Golden State Warriors (“Steve

Kerr”). Prior to his coaching career, Kerr was known for being a deadly three-point shooter and

famously knocking down the game-winning jump shot in the 1997 NBA Finals to clinch the fifth

championship for teammate Michael Jordan (“Steve Kerr”). Kerr holds the record for best career

three-point percentage in NBA history (“Basketball Statistics”). So, what happened when the

most potent three-point shooter in league history took over as a head coach? His Golden State

Warriors won more games in a three-year span (2014-2016) than any other team in NBA history,

while claiming two championships along the way (Young). Led by Kerr’s philosophy, they

don’t make them, that philosophy goes out the window” (“Lights, Cameras, Revolution”). What

if I told you that it is improved technology in basketball that has resulted in players shooting

more three-pointers than ever before? But, this technology has done more than just increase the

number of three-point attempts. The advancement of technology in basketball has resulted in a

massive influx of three-point shots, having a cascading effect on other aspects of the NBA,

changing how the game is played and coached.

The Technology

How is it that technology is able to affect such a simple game? Video technology and

player-location tracking data allows shooting technique to be broken down like never before.

College and NBA programs have the technology to use video to track shooting calculations such

as the shooter’s elbow angle, the shooter’s release point and time, the velocity of the ball leaving

the hand, the rotation of the ball, the trajectory of the shot, and the height of the player’s jump

while he shoots (McCann). One specific video and tracking program is SportVU, originally

created for military missile tracking and is now available to every NBA team (Plafke). SportVU

uses cameras synched with complex algorithms to track the x, y, and z positioning data for all

eleven objects on the court-the five players on each team and the ball (McCann). With this data,

style for each player. For example, the average NBA player releases his shot with a 45-degree

trajectory, while Stephen Curry releases his shot between 50 and 55 degrees (“Sport Science:

Stephen Curry”). Standing five inches below the league average, Curry adjusted his shot

trajectory when he entered the league in an effort to more effectively get his shot off while being

guarded by taller defenders (“Sport Science: Stephen Curry”). With advanced video and tracking

technology, it is easy to notice flaws in technique and inconsistencies in form, enabling today’s

NBA player to fine-tune his jump shot more thoroughly than ever before.

While high-tech video analysis and position tracking such as SportVU is only available at

the college and professional levels, there is a free app on the App Store that allows coaches to

view and critique video sent in by their players (“Ubersense”). The app is called Hudl Technique

by Ubersense, Inc., and it is used by middle and high school coaches around the nation to assist

individual players with their form and technique (“Ubersense”). All the player has to do is record

himself shooting several jump shots and send the coach the video clip via the app. The coach is

then able to view the jump shot in slow motion, using drawing tools and audio recording to

evaluate the player’s technique. The coach can send the edited video, complete with instructive

markings and the audio recording of the coach’s evaluation and pointers, back to the player.

machine. These machines consist of a large net surrounding the basket to catch rebounds,

draining the balls into an electric passing machine that launches the ball back to the player. Not

only does this enable the player to shoot endlessly without having to chase rebounds, but the

rebounding nets force the shooter to put proper arc on the shot (“The Gun 10K”). The machine

can be set to pass the ball back to the same spot or multiple spots. The most prevalent of these

machines is The Gun by Shoot-a-way (“The Gun 10K”). The Gun boasts that a player can shoot

up to 1,800 shots in one hour

using the machine (“The

Gun 10K”). Shoot-a-way

also has an app that records

and stores data from each

shooting zone on the court.

These machines are seen in

almost every high school,

college, and NBA gym

by a drastic 10%. Micah Mason, from Duquesne College, grew up shooting with The Gun in his

backyard (“College Basketball’s Best Shooter”). After years of shooting and thousands upon

thousands of shots, Mason proved himself the best three-point shooter in the nation from 2013-

2015 (“College Basketball’s Best Shooter”). Mason made 46.35% of his career three-point

attempts, the fourth best percentage in NCAA history (“Basketball Statistics”). Rebounding

machines assist shooters in putting up vastly more shots in a workout than previously possible.

Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics (“Beyond

role in sports (Shea). Experts Benjamin Alamar and Vijay Nehrotra define sports analytics as

“the management of structured historical data, the application of predictive analytic models that

utilize that data, and the use of information systems to inform decision makers and enable them

to help their organizations in gaining a competitive advantage on the field of play” (“Beyond

‘Moneyball’”). With new spatial tracking technology like SportVU, more analytical data is

available than ever before (McCann). SportVU can record data such as shooting percentages at

different areas around the three-point arc, shooting percentages off the dribble versus off the

pass, and the average distance between the shooter and the defender (McCann). Analytics rely on

efficiency to gain a competitive edge, and when it comes to scoring, that means finding the most

score the same number of points as they would if they made 50% from the two-point area (Lenz).

Since 1980, NBA players have made approximately 48% of their two-point shots, meaning that

two-pointers result in roughly 0.96 point per attempted shot (Denton). In each year since 1995,

the NBA league-wide shooting percentage from three-point range has exceeded 33%,

analytically giving three-pointers more value per attempt and thus making them the more

efficient shot (Denton). Wade McCagh argues that “it took the most advanced spatial tracking

technology we've seen in sports to reveal a simple truth: 3 points are more than 2” (“Spatial

complex analytical data has resulted in teams shifting towards a more analytic-based strategy, for

both in-game and personnel decisions.

From 1950 to 1978, the three-point line did not exist in the NBA (“The History of the 3-

Pointer”). The game was played under the basket, controlled by the game’s tallest players.

During the twenty-three NBA seasons in which the three-point line did not exist and an MVP

was awarded, twenty-one of the twenty-three league MVP awards were given to a player who

was at least 6’7” and played either the center or the power forward position (“Basketball

Statistics”). The game was dominated by 6'10” Bill Russell, 7'1” Wilt Chamberlain, and 7'2”

basketball” (“Gimmick to Game Changer”). In the first season of the three pointer, NBA teams

shot only 2.8 threes per game (“Basketball Statistics”). It was not until 1994, fifteen years after

the inaugural season, that the league-wide number of three-point attempts per game reached

double digits (“Basketball Statistics”). Coaches did not put a strong emphasis on three-pointers,

and players struggled to shoot the long ball successfully (Hersch, Galileo). Three-pointers were

only taken if they were wide open or in late game situations. However, the 2000s rolled around

and the three-ball, led by sharp shooters Ray Allen and Steve Nash, was gaining momentum

(Denton). But still, the majority of the league could only make around 30% of their shots from

deep, making the the shot inefficient and mostly ineffective (“Basketball Statistics”).

Basketball trainer Rich Stoner emphasizes consistency and repetition as the two most

important keys to shooting a basketball (“Basketball Training”). The first rebounding machine

that could pass the ball back to the shooter was released in 1999 (“The Gun 10K”). Rebounding

machines made it possible for NBA players to get more shooting repetitions than ever before,

branding the muscle memory into their brains (“The Gun 10K”). Not only were players getting

more repetitions than ever before, but with the use of video technology, they were able to review

and analyze their shots, ensuring that their form was consistent (Ranard). The technology of the

before.

In 2009, SportVU was first used in the NBA, but only by four teams (McCann). When

SportVU was put to use, it revealed that with NBA players’ improved shooting percentage, the

three-point shot was analytically more efficient than a two (Lowe). While some teams valued

analytics more than others, the Golden State Warriors bought in all the way, drafting three-point

shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (Wagner). By the start of the 2012 season, SportVU

was installed in all thirty NBA arenas (McCann). For the first time in NBA history, the league

the Warriors took the league by storm, embracing the analytical philosophy of coach Steve Kerr

and shooting 27.0 three-pointers per game on the way to their first NBA championship (“Steve

Kerr”). In 2016, league-wide three-point attempts per game skyrocketed to 27.0 (“Basketball

Statistics”). From 2011 to 2016, the NBA’s average number of three-point attempts per game

increased by an astonishing nine shots (“Basketball Statistics”). The league’s three-point records

have been obliterated each of the last six seasons. The NBA is changed. The big man no longer

reigns supreme; it is a shooter’s league. The best teams in the league shoot and make the most

three-pointers. Technological innovations have resulted in players shooting more accurately than

ever before, and as analytical data is revealed, coaches are instructing their players to keep

causing mid-range shot attempts to plummet. With the increased threat of three-pointers,

defenses are forced to defend the perimeter tighter than ever before, allowing space for open

drives to the basket (Hersch, Galileo). The offensive player’s goal is to either shoot a three-

pointer or beat his defender to the basket. A mid-range jumper is a jump shot taken between the

paint and the three-point line, usually between 16 and 23 feet (McCagh). The league averages

roughly 38% on shots taken in the mid-range area, while connecting on 35% of shots from three

land (“Death of Mid-Range”). No player wants to attempt a two-point shot that has nearly the

calculations have deemed the mid-range shot as the least efficient shot on the floor, while layups

blue dots being the least efficient. The Splash Brothers almost completely eliminated mid-range

shots from their game on their way to an NBA title, as three-pointers and layups proved to be

more efficient. By posing a greater threat from the three-point line, offenses are able to space out

the defense, increasing the number of three-point shots and layups, while minimizing the

analytically-inefficient mid-range jumpers.

Video technology, rebounding machines, and complex analytics have driven the

traditional NBA big man into extinction. Before NBA players were able to shoot the three-

New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2016,

www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/sports/basketball/how-the-nba-3-point-shot-went-from-

gimmick-to-game-changer.html.

McCagh, Wade. “How Spatial Analytics Killed The Mid-Range Jump Shot.” Sports, Vice, 25

Sept. 2016, sports.vice.com/en_au/article/pgj338/numbers-game-how-spatial-analytics-

killed-the-mid-range-jump-shot.

McCann, Zach. “Player Tracking Transforming NBA Analytics.” ESPN, ESPN Internet

Ventures, 19 May 2012, www.espn.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/492/492.

O'Connor, Kevin. “Big Men Are the New Running Backs in NBA Draft.” SBNation.com,