Missing Links from this Past Week

As I noted in my last post, I was on vacation for part of this past week.  While I was away there were a few events that deserved some comment.  Thankfully we now have a Wages of Wins Network, so even when I am not around someone else tends to step forward and offer some thoughts (that are often better than anything I was going to say).

So here is a quick list of links I missed, as well as some other items that I think people might find interesting.

• Arturo Galletti offers daily insights that are worth reading.  Let me call everyone’s attention to the following two recent offerings:Evaluating a Four (and a Half) Team Trade & Quick Free Agent Update and introducing the Automated Free Agency Scorecard. Arturo is offering daily posts that I think should be essential reading for anyone trying to keep track of the NBA’s offseason.
• Andrez Alvarez – at Nerd Numbers the Blog – appear to be following Arturo’s lead (i.e. posting every day).  Today’s post – Time Machine Team: Boston Celtics – looks at what the current Celtics would look like if we could take every player back to his prime. Yesterday he had a simple suggestion for Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets.
• Devin Dignam – at NBeh? — also commented on part of the recent mega-trade.  He also offered an interesting comparison of Chris Bosh and Steve Nash.
• Michael Salfino of SNY.tv asks: Is Thomas still haunting the Knicks?  Salfino begins by noting that Isiah Thomas still believes in his ability to evaluate talent.  Salfino then notes, “Worse for Knicks fans, owner James Dolan still believes in Thomas. After Thomas announced on Wednesday that he wouldn’t be able to return to the Knicks due to league rules, Dolan said: “He’s a good friend of mine and of the organization, and I will continue to solicit his views. He will always have strong ties to me and the team.” Salfino then goes on to review the problems Thomas had assembling a winner in New York.  In the process, Salfino draws upon a book some of you might have heard about :)
• Stefan Szymanski – co-author of Soccernomics (and a number of other books) – has recently began writing a weekly column for the London Evening Standard.  His latest is the first in a series of columns examining the financial position of London soccer clubs.

Let me close with a quick comment on some comments in my last post.  The last post noted that David Lee and Troy Murphy are two players on losing teams that are actually quite productive.  This led to some speculation that the race of Lee and Murphy impacted the evaluation of each player.  The subject of race and player evaluation in the NBA has been examined by economists since at least the 1980s.  Much of this literature was summarized in the following paper I published in 2006: “Economics and the National Basketball Association: Surveying the Literature at the Tip-off.” in The Handbook of Sports Economics Research; edited by John Fizel; M.E. Sharpe, Inc.: 21-48.

Stacey Brook, Martin Schmidt, and I also published the following study of salaries in the NBA: “Does One Simply Need to Score to Score?”International Journal of Sport Finance, 2, n4; (November): 190-205.

This paper looked at a variety of factors that could impact a free agent’s salary.  In addition to considering past performance, market size, injuries, and position played; we also considered the player’s race.  In none of our formulations was race statistically significant.

Going back to the literature review… there is some evidence that race played a role in salary determination in the 1980s (and there is also some evidence that race did not play a role back in the 1980s).  But I think most studies of recent data offered the same conclusion we reached.  Specifically, I don’t think race plays a significant role in player evaluation in the NBA today. 

– DJ

P.S. By the way, some of you have noticed that this blog looks a bit different lately.  That is because WordPress accidently made some changes.  I am working with WordPress to get this blog back to what it was before it was attacked by a bug.  Not sure how long this will take, though.  One thing to remember about this blog.  Not only do I work for free, but WordPress hosts the blog for free.

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