After signing veteran point guard Andre Miller, aka The Professor, the Spurs added an actual professor to their squad this week in the form of analytics guru Kirk Goldsberry. When he’s not lecturing at the UT-Austin School of Journalism, Goldsberry is one of the sharpest basketball writers on the planet, having covered hoops for ESPN via FiveThirtyEight and the tragically defunct Grantland.
Best known for his colorful shot charts and unique graphs, Goldsberry follows John Hollinger and Dave Berri as former scribes who recently joined NBA teams. His addition to the Spurs follows a natural progression for a team that has consistently invested in analytics. San Antonio’s synthesis of moneyball and moxie is fresh material for Goldsberry to flex his basketball brain on.
For a glimpse into Goldsberry’s Spurs state of mind here’s a few of his Grantland highlights. In his final Spurs-centric story for the site he refers to Danny Green as “spot-up demigod.” His follow-up chat with Matt Bonner features Kawhi Leonard in a Rush T-shirt, and his breakdown of Leonard’s straightjacket defense in a previous piece is pretty epic. Other essentials include his take on Pop’s coaching tree and an illustration of the 2014 Finals that defines #Spursgasm.
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This article appears in Mar 2-8, 2016.
