#2002: LeBron James and Stephen Curry

NBA Playoffs DataDive

LeBron James and Stephen Curry

What makes these superstars so extraordinary?

[The comic consists of several plots and tables, listed here from top to bottom, left to right.]

Scatter plot of Social Security number vs Free throw percentage

[Social Security numbers range from 000-00-0000 to 999-99-9999. No pattern discernable, aside from points being a bit denser in the middle of the plot. Stephen Curry is marked as a point on the right edge of the plot, corresponding to a high free throw percentage.]

Scatter plot of 2018 points per game vs Average teammate APGAR score

[APGAR scores range from 0 to 10. Pattern suggests a somewhat positive link between the two factors. LeBron James is marked as having a lot of points, but a low teammate APGAR score of approximately 2.1.]

Shot map

[Legend: grey dot for all players, black dot for Stephen Curry]

[A diagram of a basketball court is shown with dots placed where players have taken shots at the goal. For the all players category the dots generally cluster next to the goal basket and in front of the three point line. Stephen has 3 dots next to the basket (one is behind it), but does cluster next to the three point line. He also has several dots on the other side of the playing field, and outside it, including three in the bleachers and one in the locker room.]

Sandwiches eaten during play vs Win %

[Sandwiches eaten range from 0 to 4. A plot that suggests no relation between the factors because practically all dots are in the zero sandwiches column. 2018 Warriors have one dot at around 60% and 4 sandwiches.]

2018 total points

[A table listing teams and their points overall and “When net is within 15° of magnetic north”. The rows for the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are highlighted, the latter showing an abnormally high score in the magnetic north column.]

2018 total points Overall When net is within 15° of magnetic north Golden State Warriors 9304 330 Houston Rockets 9213 268 New Orleans Pelicans 9161 219 Toronto Raptors 9156 341 Cleveland Cavaliers 9091 1644 Denver Nuggets 9020 280

[A table at the bottom:]

Stephen Curry LeBron James Have you heard of him Probably Yes President during most recent game 7 loss Obama Bush Pog collection Large Staggeringly large Career average Fed interest rate 3.42% 4.41% Name Scrabble score 22 22 Best sport Basketball Basketball Height Over 6’ Over 6’ Retirement year 2027 Unknown Nate Silver FiveThirtyEight total rating (devised by Nate Silver to combine all metrics into a single stat) 37.4 31.8 86.6