In today’s NBA, there are statistics for everything. If you want to prove an argument, you’d better be armed with a stack of numbers that demonstrate why it’s the case. Analysts try to measure each microscopic contribution a player makes, to the degree that we can now tell you exactly how many miles a forward ran during a game, or what his top sprinting speed was in mph.
But what about some of the contributions to an NBA team that can’t possibly be calculated? How does one begin to account for the significance of, say, veteran leadership? How do you determine the exact impact of a point guard whose presence has an obvious domino effect, whose teammates say has noticeably increased their confidence, up and down the roster?