Steve Ballmer

They've watched them play. They've been to practices. They kind of know what they've – Talk to references about work ethic.

They have a body of work. You can see the body of work. You may know what happens behind the scenes. You may not.

They have a body of work. You can see the body of work. You may know what happens behind the scenes. You may not.

Some risk.

Some risk.

And you're dealing with one other thing. My wife reminds me. Boys' brains don't fully develop until they're, what, 25? And we're drafting guys who are 19, 20, 21? Yeah. So you're also having to say, by everything I know, what do I project that guy looks like as they get into their – You could say you enter your prime around 27. What do you start looking at, though?

And you're dealing with one other thing. My wife reminds me. Boys' brains don't fully develop until they're, what, 25? And we're drafting guys who are 19, 20, 21? Yeah. So you're also having to say, by everything I know, what do I project that guy looks like as they get into their – You could say you enter your prime around 27. What do you start looking at, though?

You're going to look pretty good or not by 23, 24, 25. So you have to sort of have a progression of what you think happens to the young man when you draft him. So reference checking, much bigger deal, I found. And people say, oh, well, it's simple. It's sports. The strategy decks, I get. 35 PowerPoints, 40 PowerPoints, easily to go through, okay, here's our strategies. What about this? What if?

You're going to look pretty good or not by 23, 24, 25. So you have to sort of have a progression of what you think happens to the young man when you draft him. So reference checking, much bigger deal, I found. And people say, oh, well, it's simple. It's sports. The strategy decks, I get. 35 PowerPoints, 40 PowerPoints, easily to go through, okay, here's our strategies. What about this? What if?

What about this? What do we do here? We have a PhD physicist who is a key part of our analytics group, focuses on our analytics systems. It's not like this stuff's not complicated. It is.

What about this? What do we do here? We have a PhD physicist who is a key part of our analytics group, focuses on our analytics systems. It's not like this stuff's not complicated. It is.

There are two ways to use analytics. One is for game planning. Literally, what does this tell us about the best way to guard Anthony Edwards in this situation or these situations? Very helpful for that. I'd say the data is probably table stakes, honestly. The way you use it, not so much. Do you ask the right questions? Maybe not. Does coach really understand and embrace?

There are two ways to use analytics. One is for game planning. Literally, what does this tell us about the best way to guard Anthony Edwards in this situation or these situations? Very helpful for that. I'd say the data is probably table stakes, honestly. The way you use it, not so much. Do you ask the right questions? Maybe not. Does coach really understand and embrace?

Are the analytics people really able to mind meld with coach so that coaches get the insights they can for game planning? The second is, what about for drafting and trading? Analytics are actually a little less important in that instance because they don't really tell you how if you mix Charlie with Harry, it's different than if you mix Charlie with Bobby.

Are the analytics people really able to mind meld with coach so that coaches get the insights they can for game planning? The second is, what about for drafting and trading? Analytics are actually a little less important in that instance because they don't really tell you how if you mix Charlie with Harry, it's different than if you mix Charlie with Bobby.

And Charlie and Harry haven't played together before. So it's a little different. They are helpful. We have analytics, for example, on all the kids we're going to draft, less valuable than on pros because you're playing against a different level of competition. Do people have differential data? Not much. I mean, the same cameras in the ceiling are recording the same games.

And Charlie and Harry haven't played together before. So it's a little different. They are helpful. We have analytics, for example, on all the kids we're going to draft, less valuable than on pros because you're playing against a different level of competition. Do people have differential data? Not much. I mean, the same cameras in the ceiling are recording the same games.

Most of the analytics data now gets processed through standard, you know, sort of software packages that get licensed to everybody. So there's a company called Hawkeye Second Spectrum. And basically, you know, they've built machine learning layers on top of the raw motion data, et cetera. So every team winds up with the same tools. It doesn't mean you don't need smart guys.

Most of the analytics data now gets processed through standard, you know, sort of software packages that get licensed to everybody. So there's a company called Hawkeye Second Spectrum. And basically, you know, they've built machine learning layers on top of the raw motion data, et cetera. So every team winds up with the same tools. It doesn't mean you don't need smart guys.

It doesn't mean you don't do analysis on top of it.