Student's Choice: NBA Player Comparison

This visualization is for being able to compare the stats of different NBA players. It helps to give insight to maybe how two of the top point guards compare to each other, or how the best players on different or the same teams match up statistically. The data is represented as common statistics collected from NBA players after each game they play. Since the data is taken after every game that means the data is continuously changing. The main stats used for the visualization include points per game (PTS), rebounds (REB), assists (AST), blocks (BLK), and steals (STL). This visualization is primarily for fans of the NBA who want to compare the stats of players against each other.

One of the most important aspects of basketball is of course a player’s ability to score the ball. Someone might want to use this visualization to see who is the better scorer between two players. For example, we can compare Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) and Zach Lavine (Bulls), who are both top ten scorers in the NBA. When looking at both of their points per game numbers Lillard has the advantage with 29.6 points versus Lavine’s 27.4 points. When just looking at these basic numbers it would be easy to say Lillard is the better scorer. However, maybe just as important as the raw points is how efficiently the player is scoring the ball. If a player scores 20 points in a game but does it taking 25 shots that can be seen as more of a detriment to the team. Shooting percentage can be added to the charts by clicking on “Chart Filters” and checking the boxes for FG% (overall shooting), 3P% (three point shooting), and FT%. Once these charts are added now it shows that Lavine is shooting much better from the three point line and the field in general. The argument can now be made that Lavine is providing better scoring than Lillard is.

Besides scoring another important part of basketball is the defense. Unfortunately, statistics alone don’t provide the best idea of a defender’s overall ability, but there are still some important defensive statistics like steals, blocks, defensive rebounds (DREB), and hopefully a low amount of fouls (PF). To look at this we can compare the players Giannis Antetkounmpo and Rudy Gobert, the last two winners of the Defensive Player of the Year award. From looking at these key stats alone Gobert has the advantage in every area except for steals. However, what’s a bit deceiving is that when it comes to fouls Antetkounmpo’s chart is highlighted, which would suggest that he has the advantage, but it shows that he is averaging more fouls a game. Obviously fouling more is a bad thing since it can result in the opposite team getting the ball or getting to shoot free throws. This shows that the graphic for this chart only highlights the stats that have the higher numbers. For stats like fouls and turnovers where more is worse this can be deceiving since for all the other stats having the highlighted bar on the graph is a good thing. However, this problem is fixed for turnovers but is not fixed for fouls.

Another way to use this app is to compare the merits between different positions in basketball. Maybe the two most different positions in the game are the point guard and the center (the shortest player versus the tallest player usually). For this we can compare maybe the best point guard, Steph Curry (Warriors), to maybe the best center, Joel Embiid (76ers). The advantages for both positions are displayed well by these players. For Embiid it makes sense that he would have much more rebounds and have better efficiency since centers tend to play closer to the basket. It also makes sense for Curry that he would have more assists and a higher three point percentage since point guards usually play on the perimeter and are supposed to pass the ball. Fans could use this comparison to decide for themselves which position they think it’s more important to have their best player be at.

Another feature is that on the left side chart “Team” is one of the categories that can be selected. This is a good idea since being able to directly compare stats of other teams would be interesting to look at to see how they match up against each other. The odd thing is that the only option given on the right side is “Player”. When a single player’s stats are compared to an entire team obviously the team is going to have a huge advantage just by virtue of comparing 15 player’s combined numbers to a single other player. To demonstrate how lopsided this is even when the player chosen is the MVP front runner, Nikola Jokic, is compared to the worst team in the NBA, The Pistons, his stats are completely outmatched by the entire team. One way this could be interesting, however, is maybe comparing a single player on their team to the stats of the total team. For instance, if Kawhi Leonard is compared to the entire Clippers team it shows that he contributes to almost 25% of their total points and steals. This is a good way to get an idea of the impact he has on the team.

The last option offered was “Lineup” which lets the user pick a team and use the stats from a couple players. For example, a team like the Jazz can be chosen and the best three players can be selected and compared to the best three players on a team like the Nets. This is a really cool idea to be able to compare the big trios and duos in the NBA and see how they stack up. The big problem with this section is that it never ends up loading. In one instance the screen was left alone for thirty minutes and the screen still hadn’t loaded. This is probably the biggest problem with the sight.

The main things on the site that could use work is fixing the problem with highlighting personal fouls and the problem with the “Lineup” option not loading. Another change the sight could make that would be better is changing the color of the bars at the bottom. On other NBA stat viewers the colors for the graphics are changed to match the teams of the players or the teams themselves. It’s a minor change, but it helps the data look a lot more clear with who has the advantage. Another odd thing is the stats shown in a table under the graphic. For some reason the off court shooting is only given for the player on the right. These don’t really seem like important stats too so it’s odd as to why they were included at all. It’s especially odd since they’re only given for one player and not the other. It makes comparing the players based on these stat tables kind of awkward.