Chong Wang

This paper studies rational inattention in a high stakes, real-world environment where agents make rapid decisions under continuous spatial and temporal uncertainty. I develop a method for measuring information acquisition in professional basketball using NBA optical tracking data, which record the locations of all players and the ball at high frequency. The analysis focuses on off-ball defenders, who must allocate limited attention across multiple offensive players while reacting to constantly changing court positions. I identify each defender’s source of attention using defensive assignments and construct moment-level prior and posterior uncertainty over offensive players’ next actions, including pass reception and movement. The reduction in Shannon entropy between these beliefs provides a measure of information processed by the defender. I then link information processing to payoffs using Expected Possession Value and win probability added, which capture the value of defensive actions at both the possession and game level. Preliminary evidence suggests that defenders allocate more attention when the value of information is higher, especially in close games and late-game situations. The results provide field evidence of rational inattention in a continuous, high-frequency decision environment and offer a framework for studying attention allocation in other strategic settings.