Like many modern conspiracy theories, the one involving Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. began on the Internet with an anonymous poster on Reddit.
The publisher, u/AdMassive6666, published a 1,589-word missive early Saturday morning titled “MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES SCOREKEEPER RELEASES FRAUDULENT NUMBERS FOR DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, LEADER JAREN JACKSON JR. »
Inside, the writer points out that Jackson has almost twice as many blocks at home as on the road and accuses the Grizzlies statistician of being too nice and “padding” Jackson’s defensive stats.
As of Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET, the post had 3,500 comments and it spread to Twitter where it gained even more popularity, and it was the NBA topic of the day.
This is a serious accusation since the statistician’s work is rooted in integrity and statistics play an important role in determining awards and honors, particularly in the case of Jackson, a defensive player for the year and All-Defense. Statistics have also taken on greater importance in games of chance, particularly side bets where bets can bet on how many blocks a player has in a game. Sports leagues have adopted it, taking accountability to another level.
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The editor pointed out that Jackson had 66 blocks and 22 interceptions at home in 16 games and 37 blocks and 12 steals on the road in 17 games. Specific plays were cited and other editors provided video “evidence.”
No conspiracy theory, especially in the NBA, goes unnoticed. Some of the best members of the basketball media got to work, including The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, Boston Sports Journal’s John Karalis, ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry, who specializes in basketball data and wrote the book “Sprawlball,” and The Athletic’s Seth Partnow, who worked in Milwaukee’s front office and is the author of “The Midrange Theory.”
O’Connor and Goldsberry reviewed Jackson’s 66 blocks at home. O’Connor looked in slow motion and concluded that “only 3 of his 66 house blocks are mislabeled, a totally insignificant amount.”
After watching the plays, Goldsberry called Jackson “the best rim protector in the world” and wrote on Twitter: “of the 66 blocks, 60 are clearly blocked by JJJ…3-5 are questionable and two are pretty suspect.” » But even Goldsberry considers a suspect difficult to determine from a video perspective, and it’s likely that Jackson got his hands on the basketball as Zion Williamson prepared to shoot, which counts as a block .
Partnow is intelligent and a unique thinker and found the controversy absurd. But nonetheless, he found time to illustrate Jackson’s elite rim protection, detailing his points saved through rim protection at home and on the road and there’s a two-point difference.
Jackson made the All-Defense first team and led the league in total blocks (177) and blocks per game (2.3) last season. He leads the league in blocks this season (3.1) per game and is Memphis’ best defense, allowing just 103.4 points per 100 possessions with Jackson on the court and 111.4 when Jackson is not. in the field.
Because statistics are so important to sports when it comes to awards and records – just look at the attention is on LeBron James as he gets closer to breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record – and because of the betting aspect, the NBA was forced to intervene.
“To ensure the integrity of our game statistics, auditors, independent of on-site statisticians, review all playing and statistical decisions in real time during NBA games,” said Tim Frank, vice president NBA League Operations Communications Senior. “If changes are necessary, they are made at that time or following a post-match review. All plays questioned in the article about the Memphis games were scored consistently according to the rules established by the NBA Statisticians Handbook.
For the rest of the season, no player block will be more scrutinized than Jackson’s.
