There’s No 'I' in 'Team': Estimating NBA Players’ Offensive Production

45 Pages Posted: 18 Jun 2011 Last revised: 14 Aug 2014

See all articles by Xinlei Chen

Xinlei Chen

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business

Yuxin Chen

Northwestern University - Department of Marketing

Kenneth C. Wilbur

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management

Date Written: February 15, 2013

Abstract

This article models interactions between basketball teams in order to estimate individual players’ offensive production. A theoretical model predicts that, in equilibrium, better offensive players will shoot more often and that all offensive players will average the same number of points per shot. This prediction is tested and found to be consistent with professional basketball data. The model is then used to identify and estimate individual players’ offensive production. The estimates correspond to experts’ rankings and are stable across teams for players that were traded during the season.

Keywords: basketball, empirical industrial organization, production functions, structural models

JEL Classification: L11, L83

Suggested Citation

Chen, Xinlei and Chen, Yuxin and Wilbur, Kenneth C., There’s No 'I' in 'Team': Estimating NBA Players’ Offensive Production (February 15, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1861192 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1861192

Xinlei Chen

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business ( email )

2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada

Yuxin Chen

Northwestern University - Department of Marketing ( email )

Kellogg School of Management
2001 Sheridan Rd.
Evanston, IL 60208
United States

Kenneth C. Wilbur (Contact Author)

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
Rady School of Management
La Jolla, CA 92093
United States

HOME PAGE: http://kennethcwilbur.com

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