Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagBasketball

scoring-the-winning-points-at-a-basketball-game-stockpack-adobe-stock
Scoring the winning points at a basketball game

Sabrina Ionescu’s Hot Hand

When basketball players hit a "streak," does that elevate the probability of success?

Most people believe that athletes sometimes get “hot” or “cold” with their performance elevated or depressed temporarily. For example, Purvis Short, who scored 59 points in an NBA game, said, “You’re in a world all your own. It’s hard to describe. But the basket seems to be so wide. No matter what you do, you know the ball is going to go in.” Similarly, during a timeout in a 2015 game, LeBron James told his teammates to pass the ball to Kevin Love, explaining after the game that, “He had the hot hand, I wanted to keep going to him.” On the other hand, statisticians tell us that streaks are likely even in random coin flips that have a rock-steady Read More ›

Scoring the winning points at a basketball game

Is “Hot Hands” Just a Basketball Myth?

Not so fast…

The paper that busted the myth of “hot hands” is justly famous. But statisticians are not prophets. Craig Hodges’ streak of 19 in a row in the 1991 contest is still too incredible to be explained by luck or cherry-picking. The numbers show that hot hands don’t happen every day, but they do happen.

Read More ›