NBA Data Modeling Challenge
I’m always interested in sharpening my data modeling skills so I was immediately interested when I learned about the Paradime.io dbt NBA Data Modeling Challenge that invites participants to demonstrate their knowledge by extracting meaningful insights from historical NBA data!
The NBA has already visibly embraced data modeling and statistical analysis – most notably exemplified in the widespread adoption of the 3-pointer that has profoundly reshaped how the game is now played – so I sought to explore more subtle trends that have also been impactful but have been less extensively covered than the 3-pointer.
Specifically, I examined whether a larger payroll correlates to a greater number of NBA championships, how the end of the Cold War led to the international growth of the NBA and which teams were the most prominent early adopters of the 3-pointer.
Can Money Buy NBA Championships?
I was interested if there was a notable correlation between the total number of championships won by a team with a particular salary rank for the season. The results were mostly what I had expected and show that the teams with the largest payrolls have won the most NBA championships. Surprisingly, the next greatest number of championships was actually the teams with the third-highest salary rank rather than the second-highest with a gradual decline in total championships before an unexpected bump at the fifteenth-highest salary. Overall, though, a higher payroll does correlate to more NBA championships.
How did the end of the Cold War affect the international growth of the NBA?
The NBA has become the most popular U.S. sports league internationally over the past few decades with CNBC reporting that the league expects fans from 214 different countries to tune in this year and that a record number (125) of international players were on opening-night rosters this season. However, I was particularly interested about another important time for the NBA internationally – the last years of the Cold War. I read an article that mentioned how the Soviet Union first allowed their players to join the NBA at the end of the 1988 Olympics. As a result, I visualized the running total of NBA players from Eastern Europe to illustrate the influence of those early trailblazers like Vlade Divac (Serbia), Drazen Petrovic (Croatia) and Sarunas Marciulionis (Lithuania) who all joined the NBA in 1989 and whose countries now account for the top three most NBA players from Eastern Europe. Those early players paved the way for current stars such as Kristaps Porzingis and the rise of the NBA as an international success.
Which teams first popularized the 3-pointer?
I've seen many charts showing the steady rise of 3-pointers over time in the NBA and the ways in which it has profoundly changed the game. As a result, I wondered which teams were the first to notably adopt the three-point shot in those early years so I ranked each team by the number of attempted three-pointers across the first six seasons available. The data revealed a surprising consistency in the teams making the top 5 ranking in those early years, notably the Washington Bullets, Dallas Mavericks (number 1 for three consecutive seasons!) and Boston Celtics. Many other teams were in the ranking mix during those years but it's interesting how some teams were notably early in adopting the three-pointer and understanding how it would reshape the league.
