An Outsider's Shot at Visualizing NBA Statistics with Tableau
- Bryan Eckard
- Aug 14, 2023
- 3 min read
Overview
As an adolescent/pre-teen, my family moved to the Chicago-area in the mid-90s. Everyone loved the Bulls. I wonder why......? I felt compelled to join in the Michael Jordan madness to fit in (even getting a pair of "Jordan's"). However, after the shine faded a few years later, I realized I don't like basketball, like it's at the bottom of my list of sports. So, when this project came up, I was dreading it.
I came to realize, though, that I may not "like" every assignment I receive, or the content I am asked to analyze in "the real world." Therefore, I took it on myself to learn more about the pertinent statistics and metrics that were related to the analysis. Through this, I was able to gain enough knowledge to find the following insights:
Nikola Jokić is an outlier among centers.
Sacramento's power forwards had the highest 3-pointer percentage at 50%.
Point Guard Trae Young had the most assists with 737.
The Data
The data I utilized was from the 2021-22 NBA season and can be found at the following link: 2021-22 NBA Player Stats: Totals | Basketball-Reference.com. The dataset used was the "Totals" section which includes the following columns:
Rk -- Rank
Player -- Player Name
Pos -- Position
Age -- Player's age on February 1 of the season
Tm -- Team
G -- Games
GS -- Games Started
MP -- Minutes Played
FG -- Field Goals
FGA -- Field Goal Attempts
FG% -- Field Goal Percentage
3P -- 3-Point Field Goals
3PA -- 3-Point Field Goal Attempts
3P% -- 3-Point Field Goal Percentage
2P -- 2-Point Field Goals
2PA -- 2-point Field Goal Attempts
2P% -- 2-Point Field Goal Percentage
eFG% -- Effective Field Goal Percentage This statistic adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
FT -- Free Throws
FTA -- Free Throw Attempts
FT% -- Free Throw Percentage
ORB -- Offensive Rebounds
DRB -- Defensive Rebounds
TRB -- Total Rebounds
AST -- Assists
STL -- Steals
BLK -- Blocks
TOV -- Turnovers
PF -- Personal Fouls
PTS -- Points
The only cleaning that was really needed was handling duplicates. Some players that were traded during the season are listed multiple times with statistics for their previous, new, and both teams. This was handled via filtering on the visualizations in Tableau.
To view the interactive versions of my visualizations please visit my dashboard on Tableau Public via the following link:
The Analysis
The following bubble chart compares points to assists and uses rebounds for the point size. Also, each position is given a different color.
As you can see, most players are within the ranges you would expect them to be in based on their typical position roles on the court. However, there is one large blue dot for Nikola Jokic near the upper right of the plot. Usually, centers do not get as many points or assists as their teammates, rebounds are more their thing. Jokic is second in points for centers and has almost twice as many assists as the next closest player in the category. This shows how much of a special talent he really is.
The next visualization I would like to highlight is a heatmap. This viz shows each team's three-point percentage split by position.
What stood out to me was that the Sacramento Kings' power forwards had a 3-pt percentage of 50%. I found this to be quite impressive since historically, power forwards are usually big and strong and tend to focus more on short and midrange shots.
The final viz I would like to showcase is a treemap. This shows assists by position.
It was interesting to see how many more assists point guards get compared to the other positions. Trae Young had the most assists with 737.
Final Thoughts
Taking a closer look at a sport I generally avoid was an interesting detour. It helped me further develop my analysis and Tableau skills. I still will not be sitting down for a game (willingly anyway). However, I can see how useful this type of analysis could be for basketball teams and players.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this please follow and connect with me at Bryan Eckard | LinkedIn. Also, feel free to message me if you would like to find out more about me or my work.
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