The only one in history! Breaking the lead! What is library gravity?

Ask a question:

Do you believe that the library has gravity? What does the word

mean? Does it really exist? Or is it just a fictitious stunt created by Warriors fans to promote Curry?

The so-called "Curry has gravity" refers to the gravity field brought about by Curry's terrifying shooting threat and off-ball movement on the court, which continues to attract the opponent's defensive attention, making it easier for teammates to get open shots and even score opportunities directly to the basket.

These words may sound a bit abstract.

Recently, the US media program [Thinking Basketball] tried to use a set of data to quantify this influence in the podcast "21st Century Player Evaluation", and finally came up with a quite shocking data result.

Let’s start with the most intuitive logic:

When there is a high-quality running shooter on the field, he will keep running and constantly pull the defense, thereby opening up a breakthrough route for the core holding the ball, making it easier for teammates to take shots under the basket.

This kind of influence will not be directly reflected in the assist data, but combined with the team's efficiency at the basket, the difference can still be seen.

Borrowing statistics from US media programs, "the change in the team's score per 100 basket shots when the player is on the court vs. when the player is not on the court" is used as the indicator. The final results show that almost all top shooters can more or less improve the team's offensive efficiency at the basket:

Norman Powell, Luke Kennard: +4

Duncan Robinson, Booker: +5

Peja, Bertans: +6

Reggie Miller, Joe Harris: +8

Korver, Redick, Durant: +9

Ray Allen: +11

In this list, Klay Thompson's data performance is particularly outstanding. Even after removing the time spent with Curry, Durant and others, Clay's bonus data can still reach +15, which is completely ahead of most of the shooters on the above list.

As for Curry, he is at the ceiling level. Combined with his peak performance, Curry can allow the team to score as much as 25 points more per 100 shots at the basket. Looking at the history of the NBA, this data is also an unprecedented level of disconnection, far behind everyone on this list.

To put it bluntly, Curry alone can mess up the opponent's defense and make it easier for his teammates to play under the basket.

So, why is Curry’s influence so exaggerated?

Borrowing the data given by the podcast host, we can basically tell a lot:

When Curry is on the court, teammates' shooting percentage at the basket can generally increase by 4%-6%.

Looking at history, this kind of teammate bonus data can basically be compared with a monster like O'Neal under the basket.

Secondly, Curry's presence can greatly increase the number of shots taken by his teammates at the basket. This is also a quite scary statistic. Looking at the past two decades, only a few players can increase the team's shot frequency at the basket by 7%. For example, Arenas's +7%, peak Harden's +8%, Kidd's +9%, and Westbrook can reach +10%; as for Curry, he directly pulled this value to the leading +17%.

This also means that originally 30% of the team's shots came from the basket. When he played, this proportion jumped to 47%. Looking at NBA history, this is definitely an extremely rare improvement. What is even more noteworthy is that 17% of these additional basket points came from assists, which is directly the result of the offensive space being opened up.

So, let’s go back to the original question:

Does gravity really exist?

The answer is actually very clear.

Indeed, Ku’s gravity is an invisible data, but it can be reflected through offensive space, shot selection and scoring efficiency. Although it is not as direct as assist data, it is the most terrifying offensive bonus in modern basketball.

Next time if someone questions the term "Curry has gravity", you can show this set of data:

When Curry is on the court, the team's efficiency at the basket is +25, and the frequency of shots at the basket is +17%.

And this is the best evidence that the library has gravity.