Refinement Culture (2020)

Sports - NBA. If you look at the graphic above you will see how the game of professional basketball has changed over the last twenty years. Now the game has shifted to 3-point shooters and players who drive to the basket for close shots. On average, teams that take more three-point shots ultimately score more points over the course of a game. The entire game has changed over the last 20 years because of technology, data science and math. The game today does not resemble the game from 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 years ago. If you watch a fair amount of old baseball games on YouTube you notice that the games moved along a crisp pace. Outcome maximalization across sports has created "Smarter" games with less variety and more all-or-nothing play.