The History of NBA Analytics: From Daryl Morey to the Modern Data Era

March 15, 2026 · Marcus Chen · 8 min read

In 2006, Daryl Morey became the general manager of the Houston Rockets. He'd never played professional basketball. He'd never coached. He came from the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference with a background in statistics and consulting. The NBA would never be the same.

The Pre-Analytics Era

Before Morey, NBA decision-making was based on scouting, relationships, and intuition. General managers were former players or coaches. Draft picks were made on "eye test" evaluations. Lineup decisions were based on experience, not data. There were exceptions — Dean Oliver published "Basketball on Paper" in 2004, and some teams were quietly using basic analytics — but data was supplementary at best.

The Morey Revolution

Morey's approach was radical: use data to find market inefficiencies. His most famous insight was that the mid-range two-pointer was the worst shot in basketball. The Rockets under Morey eliminated mid-range shots almost entirely, taking only threes and layups. It was mocked at first. Then it worked.

The Rockets' shot chart looked like a dumbbell — shots at the rim and shots beyond the arc, with almost nothing in between. Other teams initially laughed. Then they started copying it. By 2020, the entire NBA had adopted some version of the Morey model.

The Key Milestones

2009: ESPN introduces Real Plus-Minus, bringing advanced analytics to mainstream fans for the first time.

2013: SportVU cameras installed in all NBA arenas, enabling player tracking for the first time. The data revolution accelerates exponentially.

2015-16: The Warriors win 73 games playing analytics-friendly basketball — three-point heavy, pace-and-space, small-ball lineups. The "Death Lineup" (Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, Green — no traditional center) became the most iconic lineup in modern NBA history.

2017: Second Spectrum becomes the NBA's official tracking provider, replacing SportVU. The quality and depth of tracking data improves dramatically.

2020-present: Every NBA team now has a significant analytics department. Some teams employ 15-20 full-time analysts. The question is no longer whether to use analytics, but how to use them better than your opponents.

The Backlash

Not everyone is happy. Charles Barkley's famous "analytics is crap" rant reflected a genuine sentiment among players and fans. The criticism isn't entirely wrong — analytics can be misused. Reducing basketball to spreadsheets misses the artistry, the emotion, and the human elements that make the sport compelling.

The best organizations understand this. They use analytics as one input among many — not as gospel truth. Brad Stevens in Boston, for example, combines data with extensive video study and player input. The data informs decisions; it doesn't make them.

Where We Are in 2026

Analytics is now embedded in every aspect of the NBA: drafting, free agency, game preparation, in-game adjustments, player development, and injury prevention. The competitive advantage has shifted from "using analytics" to "using analytics better." The teams with the best data infrastructure, the smartest analysts, and the ability to translate data insights into coaching actions are the ones winning championships.

Twenty years after Morey walked into the Rockets' front office, his revolution is complete. The NBA is a data-driven league. The question now is what the next revolution looks like.

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