Pretty much all the highlights they picked are back door cuts for dunks, and not a single dime. Do they even watch ball? Does the league even know why Sabonis is an All-Star? As a fan base I’ve thought that we played up the fact that the league doesn’t pay attention the the Kings a little bit, but seeing stuff like this truly makes me think that the Kings are an afterthought, even with one of the best offenses and some of the best offensive pieces in the game this year.
I feel like whenever we have a set of prospects in a particular draft, discourse can quickly label a certain player as a bust a bit prematurely, or even just fall down in a redraft due to not performing as well as their peers who were drafted later sometimes without giving enough weight to the situation a player is drafted into.
But I digress, when you see a prospect underperforming at the NBA level, how do you determine if that underperformance is due to being a poor draft selection that objective should’ve got drafted further down as opposed to not getting proper development from their original NBA franchise?
Has anyone else felt the NBA has been weirdly off since 2020? The bubble and everything I was super excited for, but that was probably because of lack of sports and missing basketball.
After the bubble championship, it just doesn’t feel like the same league. I’m not really sure why. It just feels weird now like something changed.
1925/26-1944/45: The ABL Era Based around the ABL teams, a league that existed from 1926-1930, and 1933-1952, the league remained small, never increasing over 10 teams. Shorter seasons, and much lower stats, along with much turnover in terms of teams. Despite never having more than 12 teams in the league at any given point, 31 franchises existed in this era. Only two teams from this era still exist with active franchises dating back to it, the Wilmington Bombers formed in the last season of this era, and the Philadelphia SPHAs, joining the league in the prime of the Great Depression, and surviving mass contraction during the second World War. The Fort Wayne Pistons, now in Detroit, exist from this era, but had a hiatus from 1950-1954. The Buffalo Braves and Washington Capitols trace their origins to this era as well, but both had over two decade hiatuses from existing, so they don’t count as much, 1932-1964 for the Braves, and 1929-1954 for the Capitols.
UPDATE: The Wilmington Bombers folded following the 2003 offseason. The Philadelphia SPHAs are the only team from before the NBL merger to still exist in its continuous state. They will celebrate their 90th anniversary in the 2023-24 season. The Capitols and Braves also folded, though in 1994 the New York Bankers were revived.
1945/46-1948/49: The Merger Era The defeat of Nazi Germany and the Japanese Shogunate sent many men home, and basketball’s popularity blossomed in this era. The NBL, which had existed for a while, and the PBLA, which formed in this time period, joined with the ABL to form a large league, ballooning from 12 teams to 45. Seasons also lengthened, 84 games in the 1948-49 season. 29 franchises formed within this 4 year period. 1949/50-1953/54: The Collapse Era The BAA, a league that chose not to join the large merger, made the right move in their eyes as it all came crumbling down. Out of those 29 franchises, only 5 survived a decade after the Merger Era. By 1954, only 12 teams existed, back to the previous number before the Merger Era. Two more of these 29 franchises exist today though. However, in this era, the Milwaukee Hawks were born, now in Atlanta, a merger between the Saratoga Falcons, and Tri-Cities Blackhawks.
UPDATE: The Hawks folded in 2002, and the Saratoga Falcons had a revival run between 1989-2000. The Tri-Cities Black Hawks also had a one season comeback for the 1999-2000 season.
1954/55-1965/66: The Bailout Era The BAA, in collaboration with the Federal Government, bailed out the remaining 12 teams. There were still some turnover, the Tulsa Ranchers, Waterloo Hawks, and Pittsburgh Ironmen are examples of teams that folded in this era. However, after shrinking from 24 to 20 teams, and then to 19 for the 1956/57 due to a clerical error, the rest of the Bailout Era maintained a 20 team league. The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, from the NIBL, joined in this era as well. Denver and Houston were experimented with, Houston to success, Denver ended up not surviving long though.
UPDATE: This Houston team mentioned is the Houston Comets, which folded during the ABA merger negotiations. Pro basketball is still played in Houston to this day with the Rockets, which moved from San Diego to account for the ABA’s San Diego Sails.
1966/67-1974/75: The Recovery Era With federal oversight over, the new Federal Basketball League was rebranded to the National Basketball Association. Four teams joined the league immediately, including the return of the Indianapolis Jets, whos hiatus lasted between 1957-1966. 24 teams became 25, then 27. Many re-alignments were done during this time, due to tensions between midwest franchises with the league due to being in divisions with west coasts teams, culminating in the Three Conference era, the BAA, the Independent Basketball Conference (the former NBL/ABL teams known as the Federal Basketball Conference in the Bailout Era), and the new Great Western Conference. In the 27 team period, the IBC was merged due to the 5 conference to 3 conference model, the NBL, ABL, and IBC conferences mostly merged to do it.
1976 ABA Players Lockout: Due to the team merger being not accepted by players, the players simply refused to play for the new teams. While this led to not any canceled games, as these new teams simply filled up players from expansion drafts, negotiations were still made, as many of these players were the league’s top stars. It was agreed that any ABA player could simply declare for the upcoming 1976 draft, and be inserted into the league that way. Due to the dearth of talent as a result of more teams but not more players, many teams were excited for this draft. This was also the first year of the draft lottery, in which the Buffalo Braves jumped 2 places to claim the #1 pick of ABA talent, which they used to select Larry Kenon.
1975/1976-1992/93: The ABA/Four Conference Era Within the world of Basketball, the experimental ABA joined the Three Conference NBA to form the modern playoff system. However, a players strike from the ABA caused an issue with talent distribution. Along with that, there were issues with franchises overlapping, the San Diego Sails and Rockets, and the Indianapolis Jets and Pacers, along with the New York Knicks and Nets. This ended up costing the Houston Comets and Trenton Tigers their franchises, the Rockets and Nets taking their place respectively. The Jets were going to go under as well, but a rich benefactor out of Winnipeg bought the team and moved them there. When Trenton folded, the Dallas Mavericks joined the league for the 1976/77 season, as while the Nets took the Trenton market, the league still was 35 teams instead of 36 due to this. Contracts were shortened, going from 8 year maximums to 5 year maximums, and the ABA’s three point line was added, along with a draft lottery. The Four Conference era introduced two Super Conferences, in which the top 4 teams of each conference would play each other, then the winners of the ABA and GWC finals would play each other, then the IBC and BAA would play each other, and then the two winners would go on to the grand finals. The NBA is looking to expand yet again going into the 1988/89 season, and things seem bright with young stars Ron Harper and Michael Jordan bringing the league’s newest dynasty to Providence, Rhode Island. Tensions between Jordan and the Steamrollers are palpable though, and he has all intentions of seeking other play after his contract year in 1991/92
1993/94 Lockout
Tensions between the BAC and NBC/ABA boiled over in the 92/93 season, after face of the league Michael Jordan moved to the ABA Indiana Pacers, along with plans to contract and replace the Toronto Huskies. A lockout occured 35 games in when the ABA and NBC refused to play. With the BAC having a playoff format anyways, for 8 teams, two of these teams chose to participate. The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, the #1 team in the league at the time of the lockout, elected to participate in order to cater to young stars Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Tate George. The other team was the Pacers themselves, seeking to win Magic Johnson, considered one of the top 10 players of all time to this date, another championship. It is unknown what might happen after this, as solutions are not yet visible for this problem. Due to teams refusing to participate, the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 12th, and 16th ranked teams in the league participated in the 8 team playoffs, with the Golden State Warriors (7th) beating the New York Knicks (3rd) in the finals.
1994/95 Fracturing Continuing on with the Toronto Fiasco, and during the lockout, the three sub-leagues decided that it was war. 19 teams expanded, the most ever, even more than during the PBLA merger in the 1940s. The surviving teams of the Merger era wondered what it meant for them. Play resumed after a lockout-shortened 94/95 season under a few conditions from David Stern, whose high rank within the NBA meant he could help the Player’s Association leverage. The new American Basketball Players’ Association (ABPA) had the three separate leagues essentially promise free movement, and a unified playoffs. A soft salary cap was also introduced. Several markets now had multiple teams, such as LA, New York, and Philadelphia.
1994/95-1999/2000: The Competition Era It was war as it seemed, with the NBA ballooning in size to drive the ABA and IBL teams out of business. The money was good, however, the prospects were good, and the league kept growing, to 60 teams, to 70 team, and at its peak, 94 franchises across the three leagues. However, all good things must come to an end, and the dotcom bubble bursting was severely damaging, especially to the IBL, causing a new era of collapse.
2000/01-2003/04: The Burst Era With economic downturn, the IBL and ABA both went under, and under the guise of the Players Union and David Stern, the NBA re-merged with the two leagues to form a 42 team league, with two conferences, and six divisions of seven teams each. Money began to recover with young stars such as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but it was too little too late for the IBL, and the NBA had more than enough money to just buy out the remaining ABA teams anyways
2004/05 80th Celebration In honor of the 80th season, dating back to the ABLs 1925/26 season, I present the export of the GOAT Lab. (See Bottom)
83 players managed to be here for the celebration, 17 sadly have passed away since The oldest player on the list, however, is actually still alive! Amari Otchiband, 1930 draftee, hall of famer, and #96 on the NBA 100 list, was present for ceremonies. He is 94. Connor Haywood is the youngest of all players on the list, at 26 years old. He is ranked #61 on the list. He is joined by fellow league faces Deji Egbunu (#33) and Dirk Nowitzki (#50).
List of Passings: Tavaris Wilson (1904-1999) Mark Williams (1905-1951) Armon Hammer (1910-2003) Trace Idowu (1910-1979) Roger Murdock (1913-1998) Ronny Dobbs (1914-1988) Maya Moore (1915-1999) Joe Biden (1915-1998) Barack Obama (1915-1982) Liz Cambage (1917-1982) George Mikan (1924-2001) Austin Swope (1924-1971) Mike Evans (1925-1987) Dolph Schayes (1928-2000) Brad Roberts (1937-1986) Wayne King (1940-1987) Emir Gallon Sr. (1942-1976) Emir Gallon Sr. was tragically killed in a gasoline accident during the 1975-1976 season, in which he played on the Seattle Supersonics. To honor him in this ceremony, the Supersonics retired his #22. This was not done previously, as Gallon was a journeyman, the season of his death only being the third in Seattle. Only one other player in league history has died while an active player, John Greaves, who died of a drug overdose during the 1926-1927 season as part of the Detroit Gems. His jersey also is hung in the rafters in Detroit, as part of the Gems franchise history. While not retired on the Pistons, the jersey is displayed there as part of the unified history of Detroit Basketball. John Greaves (1899-1927)
2004/05-Present: The Era of Modern Stability
Once the leagues re-merged, the financial situation improved drastically. Teams were no longer going out of their way to shove into each other’s markets (except in philadelphia, where two teams had been proven to work before). No team that existed in the 2004-2005 season has ceased to exist to this day. The money’s going up, and salary spikes not linked to inflation have also occurred, to help this distribute to players. Everything’s going very well, and its unlikely to end anytime soon with new talent on the horizon.
The future?:
With COVID-19 on the horizon, I’m presently hesitant to expand the league as lore wise these teams might go under as a result of the pandemic hitting young vulnerable franchises. Eventually, I want to expand the league to 48 teams. I’m not 100% sure how far I’ll go into the future, but I’ll at least go to the 100th ABL anniversary (2025-26) season.
Of the Warriors’ young players on their second timeline, Kuminga is the only under-22 player who has made consistent contributions this year. 2021 lottery pick Moses Moody recently played for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G League, while 2022 first-rounder Patrick Baldwin Jr. usually only gets playing time when Golden State is short-handed.
Myers said most young players go through this phase of their career, though, citing Curry’s playing time early in his career.
“I feel bad for – whether it’s been (Wiseman) or Jonathan or Moses – it’s been up and down,” Myers said. “But there was moments early in (Steph) Curry’s career where Acie Law was playing in the fourth quarter. If I was the GM of that team I would say, ‘This sucks. Curry is doing everything right and he’s not playing.’”
It is no secret that the quality of play and the overall product which has been televised this season has been subpar. A myriad of problems can explain for this. In my own opinion, every season the NBA regular seasons feels less and less important. When the playoffs come around the level of play is almost unrecognisable to the the basketball we had just spent the last 6 months watching. To date, I never really thought the problems which have plaque the leagues product would impact the upcoming TV rights negations (and frankly speaking what I am about to say problems still wont impact these negotiations). However, tonight I painfully watched two blowouts which were nationally televised on ESPN (thank god for trashy league pass so I could watch another game on the desktop). Both games were over seemingly at the first TV timeout. The only hope of the NBA making significant changes to the structure of the regular season is if the new TV rights deals is a major disappointment from the NBAs side. A new deal which comes in at a lower value than currently projected/expected may finally give the owners and commissioner the kick in the butt they need to make some drastic changes to an outdated regular season structure which includes too many, meaningless, games.
Again, the likely outcome is nothing changes. Media companies will fight each other and ultimately have to pay what the NBA demands to secure the rights and we will continue to watch games from October-April which mean less and less as the seasons go by.
Monty Williams has been absolutely crucial for the Suns ascent into relevance, he was exactly the kind of leader that their group of young players needed in 2019. But its 2023 now and the Suns aren’t a terrible franchise just hoping for a playoff appearance. They’re expected to win games, and the fact of the matter is, Williams just isn’t a good in-game coach. He’s bad at X’s and O’s, sets up horrible rotations, and can’t call a good timeout to save his life.
He gives me major Dwayne Casey vibes, where the Raptors became far more formidable, the second he was fired. So, the question becomes, who would be the Nick Nurse to Monty Williams’ Dwayne Casey. Who is a coach that is realistically attainable, who could come in and have an immediate positive effect on the Suns?
By far, over half way through the season, the biggest surprise in the standings are the Kings. Sitting comfy in the 3rd seed of the west, with a 29-21 record, the Kings are poised to end the biggest playoff drought in NBA history.
Not only that, but their “best case scenario” of 40 wins said prior to the start of the season looks like a lock. In fact, they are on pace for 50 wins having the 10th easiest strength of schedule left in the league.
Ever since the first month or two in the season, I’ve been watching the standings to see when the Kings would finally regress back to the mean. I thought it was a fluke early season run like the Jazz had or how the Magic had a year back. But now, with just 30 games left in the season I don’t think that’s a fair argument.
Any general thoughts on this Kings team that many thought were a 7-12 seed prior to the season? Is it possible they make real noise in the playoffs?
I would like to bring to your attention the scorekeeper of the Memphis Grizzlies. I was wondering how a solid defensive player can suddenly have some specific statistical categories that are completely off the charts. I am referring to Jaren Jackson Jr., who, after having missed ~16 games to start the season due to off-season foot surgery immediately started having extreme outlier high steals + blocks statistics, leading the entire NBA in blocks per game by a wide margin. In fewer minutes per game than other players Jaron Jackson repeatedly gets outlandish block numbers at home.
I decided to take a closer look at his games and IMMEDIATELY 1 thing became crystal clear. At home in Memphis he has 66 blocks in 16 home games, averaging 4.13 blocks per game, versus just 35 in 16 road games, averaging 2.19 in nearly identical minutes- an 89% increase in Memphis. In home games he has been credited with 22 steals in 16 home games, versus only 10 steals in 16 road games. This means he is averaging nearly 1.4 steals per game at home, but just 0.63 steals on the road per game- an astounding 120% increase in Memphis. In home games he has been credited with 88 blocks + steals, versus 45 on the road. This equates to an average of an outlandish 5.5 blocks+steals at home in limited minutes versus a reasonable and realistic, and still outstanding, 2.81 steals+blocks per game on the road. This equates to a 1.96X home stat increase only in these 2 categories. A 96% increase in performance specifically at home is truly an aberration which should be reviewed. This demonstrates the sort of incredulous statistics which calls for serious analysis.
Just 3 out of his 14 games this season with 5+ blocks+steals have come on the road. 8 out of 9 of his 6+ steals+blocks games have been recorded in Memphis. I decided to watch 2 memphis grizzlies games where he had one of his ludicrous 8+ blocks+steals games. By my count he actually had 3 fewer “stocks”(some people refer to steals+blocks as stocks) than he was credited for by the home scorekeeper. I wonder if the scorekeeper has some sort of vested interest in Jaren Jackson getting maximum high value defensive statistics that he thinks he can get away with putting down into the box score.
Jaren Jackson in July – mid November started as high as +10,000 for DPOY at certain sportsbooks after the Grizzlies announced he had undergone a procedure to address a stress fracture in his right foot and would be sidelined for 4-6 months. Now, in large part thanks to these blatantly wrong statistics, he is a huge odds on favorite at higher than -200.
I conducted some analysis on all 78 games jaren jackson played last season… my hypothesis was that his home/road difference on steals & blocks would both be small. He had 90 blocks in Memphis and 87 blocks on the road. He had 39 steals in Memphis and 34 steals on the road. He had 129 “stocks” in Memphis vs. 121 “stocks” on the road. BPG was actually 12.7% lower on the road(he played 4 fewer home games) while steals+blocks/game was 15% lower on the road- higher than i expected, but reasonable given all the differences for Memphis when playing at home vs on the road, from their home/away record difference to crowd noise to effort/energy/intensity exerted by players, etc. 90%+ higher in Memphis, however, as is the case this season, is NOT REASONABLE AND COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC. My educated guess is that the Memphis scorekeeper(s) have been changed since last season and/or ULTERIOR MOTIVES, INCENTIVES are now in play with respect to JJJ’s defensive statistics.
Why is this happening so blatantly to the point where a person can just look at Jaren Jackson Jrs. steals+blocks #s on the box score and determine with a high level of confidence whether that game was played on the road or in Memphis is the next question…
Three potential explanations, only one of which is innocent:
Jaren Jackson plays MUCH MUCH MUCH harder at home and hustles like a maniac and focuses on stealing and blocking shots like crazy in Memphis, causing his numbers to be skewed in an absurd manner even compared to his regular highly efficient top 3- but realistic, road numbers. This can almost certainly be discounted because i looked at his other statistics and everything from his minutes per game to points per game to rebounds per game and even fouls are close in terms of home/away splits.
The Memphis scorekeeper is a huge Jaren Jackson Jr. fan and is purposely imbellishing his steals & blocks, since that is much easier to do than points or rebounds, for instance. When he contests a shot well, but does not touch the ball, perhaps the scorekeeper purposely gives him the undeserved stat and donates blocks to him where none occurred, for instance.
It should also be investigated in this age of fantasy basketball and gambling on sports whether this scorekeeper and/or his family and friends bet on Jaren Jackson to win the defensive player of the year award at super long odds and as a result has a tremendous financial incentive to juice and fake a player’s 2 most valuable defensive statistics- BLOCKS and STEALS, which are also the easiest to fudge #s on because it is often most difficult to definitively label steals and blocks without slow motion on at least some of the plays in question.
I and all NBA fans would appreciate a thorough investigation into this matter. It is important to have 100% integrity in statistics not only for things such as fantasy sports, sportsbetting, futures wagers, but even more importantly to ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME FOR ALL. This is mandatory to be able to compare players’ statistics versus other players now in the league fairly as well as across seasons and know the numbers are accurate, correct, and not unfairly manipulated by home arena scorekeepers.
I decided to watch just a few of the Grizzlies’ recent games and immediately started noticing a pattern: Plays at FedEx arena in Memphis constantly being scored wrongly to gift Jackson extra steals and blocks which never occurred. Simply put, if a shot does not hit the rim or it otherwise looks bad somehow, and Jaren Jackson is either contesting the shot or close to the action, he is credited with FRAUDULENT blocks repeatedly. Sometimes this is achieved by taking away the stat from his teammates. Other times, an opposing player simply loses the ball or shoots a contested shot way off target, but Jackson nevertheless is credited with steals & blocks that never occurred in both instances. Also, when he deflects a ball and it goes to a teammate he is credited with the steal. When his teammate deflects the ball and it goes to him he is STILL credited with the steal IN MEMPHIS. When he tips or deflects a ball, but never gains possession nor do the Grizzlies, he is still awarded a steal.
The following is just a very small % of questionable or outright WRONG steals and blocks given to Jackson:
Example #1 New Orleans Pelicans @ Memphis Grizzlies Saturday 12/31 7mins, 21 sec remaining in the 2nd quarter Zion drives to the basket, NEVER shoots the ball, and loses it. “Williamson in a crowd, ball pops free, picked up by Tyus Jones, turnover number 9 by the pelicans” announcers say. Scorekeeper in Memphis graded the play as Jaren Jackson Jr. blocks Zion Williamson’s 3-foot driving layup
Example #2 Utah Jazz @ Memphis Grizzlies Sunday 1/8 10:09 remaining in the 1st quarter Jordan Clarkson throws a bad pass directly to Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson for some odd reason is credited with the steal. Bane actually steals the ball.
Example #3 Utah Jazz @ Memphis Grizzlies Sunday 1/8 1:46 remaining in the 4th quarter Kelly Olynyk loses the ball while being defended by Xavier Tillman. The ball then bounces off Tillman and Jaren Jackson before being picked up by Tillman. The steal should be credited to Tillman. Memphis scorekeeper grades the play as Jaren Jackson Jr. steals
Example #4 Phoenix Suns @ Memphis Grizzlies Monday 1/16 7:02 remaining in the 4th quarter Brandon Clarke blocks Saban Lee’s layup, but the Memphis scorekeeper instantly gives the block to nearby Jaren Jackson Jr.
Example #5 Cleveland Cavaliers @ Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday 1/18 11:48 remaining in the 2nd quarter Lamar Stevens, who Jaren Jackson helps on, loses the ball and Desmond Bane picks it up and gains possession. The Memphis scorekeeper gave steal to Jaren Jackson.
Example #6 Detroit Pistons @ Memphis Grizzlies Friday, December 9th 39 seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter Jackson deflects a pass and never gains possession, saved back to Detroit player. Memphis scorekeeper gives a steal to Jackson.
Example #7 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday, December 7th 10:38 4th quarter Jackson saves out of bounds ball directly to Thunder player underneath basket for quick score, but gets credited with a steal.
Thank you very much for reading this. I would appreciate well thought out responses, a good discussion, and also advice on how someone in charge at the NBA can investigate these plays as well as others from Grizzlies games, and the dishonest Memphis scorekeeper. Also, can obviously fraudulent statistics be deleted, corrected & reversed weeks/months later?
For me it was Terrance Ferguson. He played for Deion Sanders’ now defunct prep “school” and we somehow got matched up vs them in a tournament and lost by 50. He only played the 1st half but he was chucking (and knocking down) 30 footers and his quickness on the break + bounce at his height was mind-blowing up close.
I would like to bring to your attention the scorekeeper of the Memphis Grizzlies. I was wondering how a solid defensive player can suddenly have some specific statistical categories that are completely off the charts. I am referring to Jaren Jackson Jr., who, after having missed ~16 games to start the season due to off-season foot surgery immediately started having extreme outlier high steals + blocks statistics, leading the entire NBA in blocks per game by a wide margin. In fewer minutes per game than other players Jaron Jackson repeatedly gets outlandish block numbers at home.
I decided to take a closer look at his games and IMMEDIATELY 1 thing became crystal clear. At home in Memphis he has 66 blocks in 16 home games, averaging 4.13 blocks per game, versus just 35 in 16 road games, averaging 2.19 in nearly identical minutes- an 89% increase in Memphis. In home games he has been credited with 22 steals in 16 home games, versus only 10 steals in 16 road games. This means he is averaging nearly 1.4 steals per game at home, but just 0.63 steals on the road per game- an astounding 120% increase in Memphis. In home games he has been credited with 88 blocks + steals, versus 45 on the road. This equates to an average of an outlandish 5.5 blocks+steals at home in limited minutes versus a reasonable and realistic, and still outstanding, 2.81 steals+blocks per game on the road. This equates to a 1.96X home stat increase only in these 2 categories. A 96% increase in performance specifically at home is truly an aberration which should be reviewed. This demonstrates the sort of incredulous statistics which calls for serious analysis.
Just 3 out of his 14 games this season with 5+ blocks+steals have come on the road. 8 out of 9 of his 6+ steals+blocks games have been recorded in Memphis. I decided to watch 2 memphis grizzlies games where he had one of his ludicrous 8+ blocks+steals games. By my count he actually had 3 fewer “stocks”(some people refer to steals+blocks as stocks) than he was credited for by the home scorekeeper. I wonder if the scorekeeper has some sort of vested interest in Jaren Jackson getting maximum high value defensive statistics that he thinks he can get away with putting down into the box score.
Jaren Jackson in July – mid November started as high as +10,000 for DPOY at certain sportsbooks after the Grizzlies announced he had undergone a procedure to address a stress fracture in his right foot and would be sidelined for 4-6 months. Now, in large part thanks to these blatantly wrong statistics, he is a huge odds on favorite at higher than -200.
I conducted some analysis on all 78 games jaren jackson played last season… my hypothesis was that his home/road difference on steals & blocks would both be small. He had 90 blocks in Memphis and 87 blocks on the road. He had 39 steals in Memphis and 34 steals on the road. He had 129 “stocks” in Memphis vs. 121 “stocks” on the road. BPG was actually 12.7% lower on the road(he played 4 fewer home games) while steals+blocks/game was 15% lower on the road- higher than i expected, but reasonable given all the differences for Memphis when playing at home vs on the road, from their home/away record difference to crowd noise to effort/energy/intensity exerted by players, etc. 90%+ higher in Memphis, however, as is the case this season, is NOT REASONABLE AND COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC. My educated guess is that the Memphis scorekeeper(s) have been changed since last season and/or ULTERIOR MOTIVES, INCENTIVES are now in play with respect to JJJ’s defensive statistics.
Why is this happening so blatantly to the point where a person can just look at Jaren Jackson Jrs. steals+blocks #s on the box score and determine with a high level of confidence whether that game was played on the road or in Memphis is the next question…
Three potential explanations, only one of which is innocent:
Jaren Jackson plays MUCH MUCH MUCH harder at home and hustles like a maniac and focuses on stealing and blocking shots like crazy in Memphis, causing his numbers to be skewed in an absurd manner even compared to his regular highly efficient top 3- but realistic, road numbers. This can almost certainly be discounted because i looked at his other statistics and everything from his minutes per game to points per game to rebounds per game and even fouls are close in terms of home/away splits.
The Memphis scorekeeper is a huge Jaren Jackson Jr. fan and is purposely imbellishing his steals & blocks, since that is much easier to do than points or rebounds, for instance. When he contests a shot well, but does not touch the ball, perhaps the scorekeeper purposely gives him the undeserved stat and donates blocks to him where none occurred, for instance.
It should also be investigated in this age of fantasy basketball and gambling on sports whether this scorekeeper and/or his family and friends bet on Jaren Jackson to win the defensive player of the year award at super long odds and as a result has a tremendous financial incentive to juice and fake a player’s 2 most valuable defensive statistics- BLOCKS and STEALS, which are also the easiest to fudge #s on because it is often most difficult to definitively label steals and blocks without slow motion on at least some of the plays in question.
I and all NBA fans would appreciate a thorough investigation into this matter. It is important to have 100% integrity in statistics not only for things such as fantasy sports, sportsbetting, futures wagers, but even more importantly to ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME FOR ALL. This is mandatory to be able to compare players’ statistics versus other players now in the league fairly as well as across seasons and know the numbers are accurate, correct, and not unfairly manipulated by home arena scorekeepers.
I decided to watch just a few of the Grizzlies’ recent games and immediately started noticing a pattern: Plays at FedEx arena in Memphis constantly being scored wrongly to gift Jackson extra steals and blocks which never occurred. Simply put, if a shot does not hit the rim or it otherwise looks bad somehow, and Jaren Jackson is either contesting the shot or close to the action, he is credited with FRAUDULENT blocks repeatedly. Sometimes this is achieved by taking away the stat from his teammates. Other times, an opposing player simply loses the ball or shoots a contested shot way off target, but Jackson nevertheless is credited with steals & blocks that never occurred in both instances. Also, when he deflects a ball and it goes to a teammate he is credited with the steal. When his teammate deflects the ball and it goes to him he is STILL credited with the steal IN MEMPHIS. When he tips or deflects a ball, but never gains possession nor do the Grizzlies, he is still awarded a steal.
The following is just a very small % of questionable or outright WRONG steals and blocks given to Jackson:
Example #1 New Orleans Pelicans @ Memphis Grizzlies Saturday 12/31 7mins, 21 sec remaining in the 2nd quarter Zion drives to the basket, NEVER shoots the ball, and loses it. “Williamson in a crowd, ball pops free, picked up by Tyus Jones, turnover number 9 by the pelicans” announcers say. Scorekeeper in Memphis graded the play as Jaren Jackson Jr. blocks Zion Williamson’s 3-foot driving layup
Example #2 Utah Jazz @ Memphis Grizzlies Sunday 1/8 10:09 remaining in the 1st quarter Jordan Clarkson throws a bad pass directly to Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson for some odd reason is credited with the steal. Bane actually steals the ball.
Example #3 Utah Jazz @ Memphis Grizzlies Sunday 1/8 1:46 remaining in the 4th quarter Kelly Olynyk loses the ball while being defended by Xavier Tillman. The ball then bounces off Tillman and Jaren Jackson before being picked up by Tillman. The steal should be credited to Tillman. Memphis scorekeeper grades the play as Jaren Jackson Jr. steals
Example #4 Phoenix Suns @ Memphis Grizzlies Monday 1/16 7:02 remaining in the 4th quarter Brandon Clarke blocks Saban Lee’s layup, but the Memphis scorekeeper instantly gives the block to nearby Jaren Jackson Jr.
Example #5 Cleveland Cavaliers @ Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday 1/18 11:48 remaining in the 2nd quarter Lamar Stevens, who Jaren Jackson helps on, loses the ball and Desmond Bane picks it up and gains possession. The Memphis scorekeeper gave steal to Jaren Jackson.
Example #6 Detroit Pistons @ Memphis Grizzlies Friday, December 9th 39 seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter Jackson deflects a pass and never gains possession, saved back to Detroit player. Memphis scorekeeper gives a steal to Jackson.
Example #7 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday, December 7th 10:38 4th quarter Jackson saves out of bounds ball directly to Thunder player underneath basket for quick score, but gets credited with a steal.
Thank you very much for reading this. I would appreciate well thought out responses, a good discussion, and also advice on how someone in charge at the NBA can investigate these plays as well as others from Grizzlies games, and the dishonest Memphis scorekeeper. Also, can obviously fraudulent statistics be deleted, corrected & reversed weeks/months later?