What

A well-researched Reddit post identified a statistical anomaly in the home vs away steals and rebounds for DPOY favorite Jaren Jackson Jr. (JJJ). (link)

Why

It's several things I like (basketball, variance, Reddit, etc) wrapped up in an opportunity to make a data viz.

Graph

- Per 36 min steals + blocks (stocks)

- Size of point = absolute difference of home and away average

Conclusion

Just looking at the viz, yea, this is exceptional behavior. Others have determined it's a sub 1% chance that this variation could be random. The NBA has clarified that an NBA representative, and not the local team, makes the official stat determinations. NBA media has reviewed the calls for JJJ, and has only found several questionable calls. But, we're just looking at data.

Data

- From NBA.com on 01-29-2023

- Top 50 players in per 36 min steals and blocks

-- Home and away

-- At least 8 games played for home and away