What Gary Sutton has said about Sports analytics
3 quotes · 1 episode · Jun 11, 2026
Gary Sutton, Business intelligence and analytics leader and author of data science and statistics books including Statistics Slam Dunk, has been quoted on Sports analytics 3 times in 1 episode of Digital Social Hour, most recently on June 11, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.
In their words
Sutton said he does not believe analytics alone should be used to assess players or situations.
“I'm a big analytics guy, obviously. But I don't believe in using analytics alone to assess players or other situations”
Digital Social Hour: The Project Management Problem Nobody Talks About... | Gary Sutton | DSH #2013 (Jun 11, 2026) · Listen from 3:40
Sutton called 'defense wins championships' a cognitive illusion, arguing basketball is roughly a 50-50 game between offense and defense.
“I think basketball is basically a 50-50 game between offense and defense. It might not be exactly 50-50, but it's close”
Digital Social Hour: The Project Management Problem Nobody Talks About... | Gary Sutton | DSH #2013 (Jun 11, 2026) · Listen from 19:19
Sutton said the data suggests LeBron James has had a better career than Michael Jordan, though he personally prefers Jordan.
“I think the data suggests that LeBron has had a better career. I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. I'm more of a Jordan guy”
Digital Social Hour: The Project Management Problem Nobody Talks About... | Gary Sutton | DSH #2013 (Jun 11, 2026) · Listen from 39:09
Episodes
The Project Management Problem Nobody Talks About... | Gary Sutton | DSH #2013Digital Social Hour · Jun 11, 2026 · 1 h 1 min
Sean Kelly talks with analytics author Gary Sutton about NBA data on the draft, tanking, salary cap, hot hand and betting, plus AI and project management.
Gary Sutton on other topics
- Project management · 2 quotes
- Artificial intelligence · 2 quotes
- Home advantage · 2 quotes
- NBA salary cap · 2 quotes
- Creative destruction · 1 quote
- Technological unemployment · 1 quote
- Sports betting · 1 quote
- Hot hand · 1 quote