Crazy Stuff on the Internets: Measuring Sports Performance

The premise of a new book, The Wages of Wins: Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport, by three economists (David Berri, Martin Schmidt, and Stacey Brook)--that scoring isn't everything, that All-Stars don't really "step it up" during the Playoffs, that most great players make their teammates worse, and wins mean more to fans than big-name players--looks to turn conventional wisdom about sports (especiallythe N.B.A.) upside down. The book's major claims? Ray Allen's had just as good a career as Kobe Bryant; Allen Iverson's way overrated; Ben Gordon is, too; the LeBron's made it this far in the Playoffs not because King James "stepped up" his game (his numbers actually decreased from the regular season), but because Varejao, Gooden, Marshall, and Hughes did.

More up-to-date info, as well as news on the book, at their site, The Wages of Wins Journal.


UPDATE: Oh, and here's a review from The New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell.