Analytics has become a big part of sports over the last decade or so. The NBA in particular has embraced analytics, which has led to this three-point revolution in the league, but not everyone is a fan of that.
A lot of the old heads tend to believe that analytics have had a negative impact on the game and Byron Scott is also one of them. Scott witnessed first-hand how analytics was starting a play a bigger role in the game as he coached in the NBA for 15 seasons. When asked during an appearance on the “Getcha Popcorn Ready with T.O. and Hatch” podcast whether analytics had ruined the game, Scott had a very firm response.
(starts at 7:49 mark):
“Absolutely. I really started to see it change when I got to the Lakers as a coach. They used that (3 point shot) so much as a weapon, because of well ‘the analytics tells us’ and I’m saying well I understand analytics, you got to shoot more threes but you can’t shoot more threes if you ain’t got guys that can shoot. You telling me that we got to live by the analytics and I’m telling you we don’t have guys that can make threes on a consistent basis… I think it’s just giving some of the nerds, so to speak, in the world, a place in the NBA when they wouldn’t have had a place because of the numbers.”
It is safe to say a lot of ex-players probably share that sentiment and Scott is right to an extent. Analytics is a tool to help teams get better results and one shouldn’t look at it as the be-all and end-all. Sometimes conventional wisdom is the way to go and perhaps that has been lost somewhere along the way.
Scott also stated during this appearance that he believes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the GOAT and he makes a fairly good argument for his old teammate, too. We doubt his comments on analytics would have helped his chances of returning to the NBA as a coach. His last coaching role was with the Lakers back in 2016.
