Marc Gasol considers data very important and beneficial for winning

World champion and NBA basketball player Marc Gasol brought some stardust to proceedings at the Sports Tomorrow Congress (WOM+N) ²⁰²¹ on Thursday. The ex-FC Barcelona player shared the stage with coach and data analyst, Brittni Donaldson. They were both at Toronto Raptors during the 2019 season when they were crowned NBA Champions.

The center from Sant Boi de Llobregat acknowledged that he first came into contact with performance data in 2016 after injuring his foot, which significantly aided his recovery. This was when Gasol realised that “it opened up a new world for me” and he indicated that he asked for access to even more data.

During his conversation with Donaldson, Gasol highlighted that the Toronto Raptors data analysis team helped him to make “more effective throws, which meant I was more involved with the plays and focused more on the quality of the throw”. He also stated that he really liked “that data analysis errors are accepted as part of the sport, as the error was part of the process”. The data helped him to become more involved in both offence and defence, regardless of the outcome.

Gasol also states that “the confidence of the person who showed me the data convinced me about them. We were used to seeing images of games, but they transformed those images into numbers. Once you have the data, they help you make better decisions”.

To sum up, the center also acknowledged the need to “educate players on the importance and benefits of data. The best thing they can do is make the most of them to squeeze as much as possible out of games, as data is very important and beneficial for winning”.