Detailing the NBA's stat-tracking process with Neema Djavadzadeh

The NBA sphere, in many respects, drives its conversations withnumbers. They can range from the simple eye-popping box score tothe intricate advanced data that power decisions and add contextabout the evolution of the game.

However, we often lose sight of just how those statistics getnoted and validated. As evidenced by this weekend's buzzing Jaren Jackson Jr. Redditconspiracy, most fans and even insiders don't fully grasp howcomplicated the league's record-keeping process can be. The NBA isfar removed from the days of one-person, hand-tracked stacking;technology and checks and balances help keep the league on top ofits array of tracked data points.

Neema Djavadzadeh spent the 2021-22 season working as a statsauditor for the NBA and G League. He worked over 400 G Leaguecontests and approximately 20-30 NBA games as part of the gamedaystatskeeping crew. The G League's process is a bit morestraightforward, but it still requires a team of auditors.

"With the G League, it involved watching game filmand making sure stats were correct," Djavadzadeh toldBasketball News. "We had an audit-review system thatinvolved one person on the team auditing the stats, and thenanother reviewing the audits and making changes accordingly. Then,someone higher up would comb through all the edits to make finalconfirmation. In total, it was six people working on this for the GLeague."