Statistical Analysis of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Data

Abstract

The NBA or National Basketball Association is a famous professional basketball league. It attracts millions of audiences and is said to be the third wealthiest professional sport in the world. NBA is one the top four sports all over the world with a total of 30 teams competing against each other. Since these games are such sought after, it is important for teams, players, and the investors to analyze the game statistics. These stats are helpful in recruiting, inspecting game advancements, recognizing player patterns etc. The statistics during a game about players and teams tickles the curious mind and makes us question the if’s and the how’s. In this work, we gain insights on the players’ and teams’ performance and the factors affecting them. This work shows the team’s performance dependency factors and key areas that need improvement. This data also helps in analyzing the psychological factors of playing at home or away. The data has helped find statistical instances of best players and defenders and key game points. This study also gives us a peek at the player shot preference, shots scored in a quarter or even the differences in the team performance in the games per season. NBA recruiting agencies find player and team data highly valuable to ensure proper investment and salaries. It has been seen over the years that the shot results and shot accuracies of the players can help build teams with specific strengths; and a strategic formation of the team is always a basket away from a win at the finals.