The Confessions of an NBA Scorekeeper

Despite unknown veracity, its still an interesting read.

http://deadspin.com/5345287/the-confess ... corekeeper
http://deadspin.com/5336974/how-an-nba- ... -the-books

As Alex remembers it now, Olajuwon had a double-double with nine blocks at some point during the fourth quarter. "Someone in management came to me and said, basically, Thou shalt give Hakeem Olajuwon a triple-double. Come hell or high water, he's getting a triple-double. I'm like, uh, OK." The Grizzlies had small monitors on which they kept a running box score. Anyone could see if someone was closing in on a milestone. "If a guy is in vicinity of a record, people are tracking those things. I know those things," Alex says. "If a guy has an eight-game streak of getting 10 rebounds, I'll know that. Am I gonna help that? Probably." The Rockets game, though, "was the one time someone said, 'You'll do this.' And I did." (For the record, Alex is reasonably certain that the 10th block was legitimate. "If he got a bullshit block," he says, "it probably happened before the 10th one.")

No surprise here. Basketball always has been one of the more subjective sports in the world and certain aspects of the game can easily be manipulated.

Saw this a while ago, he responded to questions here: http://www.sonicscentral.com/apbrmetric ... php?t=2269

I adore MJ but I thought he never got a triple-double on that all-star game back then... nothing's changed on the way I look at his greatness though.

Wow. This totally devalues the meaning of keeping stats.

From what I have read, it still happens today... mainly adding extra assists and blocks...

I think a reader brought up the issue of CP3 and his assists count as a basis of these 'claims'

Players get awarded Hockey Assists.

I swear I was at a game once and they did not give the Clippers two points on a made jumpshot. I was right, too. They corrected it at the half.

I think things like this can be used to improve the way stats are recorded. For instance, just because a point guard didn't directly pass the ball to the guy who scored, but was involved in a two pass combination that resulted in a basket, shouldn't they also get an assist, like hockey? If a player contests a shot really well, but does not make contact with the ball, shouldn't they get a block or some other credit if it resulted in a bad shot? What about stripping or deflecting the ball? If another defender picks up the loose ball, they are credited with the steal, not the player who deflected it.

There are so many statistical categories that can be created and defined to improve how players are defined by their stats.

Saw this a while ago, he responded to questions here: http://www.sonicscentral.com/apbrmetric ... php?t=2269

That was a good read. I liked the final chris paul clip... very lol

I adore MJ but I thought he never got a triple-double on that all-star game back then... nothing's changed on the way I look at his greatness though.

It's been some time since I watched the 97 game, but I'd have to say I do think it was legit. However, it went into the books as 14, 11 and 11 and I'm pretty sure he came out of the game after getting the tenth assist. I've got it on tape, I'll have to watch it again sometime and keep track myself, see if I can spot that 11th assist or catch them out on padding the boxscore.