--- title: Harvery Pollack, NBA Statistics Guru, Dies at 93 description: The pioneering analyst delivered new knowledge, but never forgot the fun canonical: https://time.com/3933658/harvey-pollack-hoops-stats-guru/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-24T17:05:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:49.112Z article:section: Sports og:title: How NBA Statistics Guru Harvey Pollack Changed Basketball og:description: The pioneering analyst delivered new knowledge, but never forgot the fun og:url: https://time.com/3933658/harvey-pollack-hoops-stats-guru/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fa1d2a8766529fe/69885825428a9e22c2ccddf3/harvey-pollack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4580 og:image:height: 2576 og:image:alt: Harvey Pollack og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How NBA Statistics Guru Harvey Pollack Changed Basketball twitter:description: The pioneering analyst delivered new knowledge, but never forgot the fun twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fa1d2a8766529fe/69885825428a9e22c2ccddf3/harvey-pollack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Appreciation: Harvey Pollack, Hoops Stats Guru > Sponsored content. 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No match for Richard Corliss's picks from Hollywood's best baseball films_  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent Jun 24, 2015 5:05 PM UTC  Philadelphia 76ers stats keeper Harvey Pollack waves during a celebration of his 90th birthday during an NBA basketball game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Utah Jazz, March 9, 2012, in Philadelphia. Philadelphia 76ers stats keeper Harvey Pollack waves during a celebration of his 90th birthday during an NBA basketball game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Utah Jazz, March 9, 2012, in Philadelphia. Matt Slocum—AP  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent Jun 24, 2015 5:05 PM UTC Sports are smarter these days, to the great benefit of all fans. We look at the games in more minute detail, and can glean strategic insights that making watching sports more engaging. Thanks to the notion that where a certain player takes his shots is just as important as how many he fires at the rim, we knew that Steph Curry was shooting [91%](https://twitter.com/synergysst/status/602309598939258880) on left-corner three-pointers in the playoffs at one point. Let’s see if the defense can keep Curry away from his hot spot. What are the Warriors going to do to get him open there? Across all sports, technology is unlocking secrets. Cameras tell you where every pitch landed in, or out, of the strike zone, and the angles of tennis shots. Teams own proprietary formulas to evaluate talent that are so valuable, it may seem like a good idea to [hack ](http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/%5F/id/13089501/report-fbi-investigating-st-louis-cardinals-hacking-houston-astros-database)them. In the midst of this new-agey analytics industry that has ascended over the last decade, it’s just so sweet that the man who started the stats revolution, in basketball, was a 93-year-old employee of the Philadelphia 76ers who had been working in the NBA since its inaugural season in 1946\. His technological innovation on the night of March 2, 1962, when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Penn., was to write “100” on a white piece of paper and give it to Wilt, who [held it up](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LxMeEzhvNRs/hqdefault.jpg) to a camera, creating one of the most iconic photographs in sports history. Harvey Pollack, director of statistical information for the Philadelphia 76ers and the last original employee of the NBA’s first season still working in the league, died on June 23, at 93\. Pollack made epic contributions to the game. He started tracking numbers that fans, players, coaches and talent evaluators now consider routine: offensive and defensive rebounds, steals, turnovers, blocked shots and minutes played, among others. He also began compiling more advanced information, like 48-minute projections, plus-minus evaluations, distances of field goals. He coined the term “triple-double.” Today’s advanced stat gurus, who now occupy plum positions in NBA front offices, drew on Pollack’s work. “He was certainly an originator of many great ideas and concepts that, back in the day, were monumental,” said Roland Beech, vice president of basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks. “They were definitely powerful. Absolutely, all the stats you see today owe their gratitude to him.” John Hollinger, vice president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies, tweeted: > [](https://twitter.com/johnhollinger/status/613509136253194240) Thanks in large part to the best-selling book _Moneyball_, Bill James, godfather of baseball analytics, is more widely known that Pollack ever was. (Back in 2006, James earned a spot on TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world). But Pollack had a similar impact on his sport. While James’ annual Historical Baseball Abstract was the bible for the sabermetric crowd, the Harvey Pollack Statistical Yearbook was the sacred text for hoops quants. While Pollack came up with his share of player evaluation formulas, measured crunch time performance and pinpointed which five-man player combos performed the best, he never forgot the fun. “He just loved basketball,” said Beech. “He’d include things that had no real statistical value, but that added some color to the game. He always appreciated the fan.” A glance through Pollack’s 2010-2011 [statistical guide](http://www.nba.com/sixers/media/pollack%5Fstatistical%5Fguide%5F2010.pdf) reveals his hodgepodge of interests: it includes a list of left-handed pro players over time, the most common surnames in NBA history, and a personal favorite, the players who recorded the most games that ended in a trillion between 1993-2010 (a player records a trillion when he enters a game and contributes no statistics, resulting in a string of zeroes next to his minutes played tally in the box score). Congratulations former Atlanta Hawks guard Mario West, who topped the chart with 79 trillions. Sports numbers can be goofy, and incredibly insightful. And if you’re like most fans—not a hard-core stathead—they can, at times, be boring. But thanks to an innovator like Pollack, numbers matter. “We lost somebody central to the NBA,” said Beech. RIP. ## Transcript >> Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to TIME Magazine's roster of All- Star Baseball movies. This is the week when major league baseball honors its best where all the other best or at least the most famous of baseball movies too, and we are proud to present a starting lineup of some of the most memorable films to stick in your mind, your heart or your craft. Let's see if your favorite is among them. Leading off and playing second base, Jackie Robinson as Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story, the first African- American player in the major leagues into the modern era. Robinson came to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and became immediate sensation, controversy and star. In the winter between the 1949 and 50's seasons, he took a few weeks off to make this low budget film. Nothing is special about it except the glamour of watching one of history's great figures play himself. Batting second, your designated hitter, Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs in The Natural. >> Let's play ball. >> A lifelong minor leaguer who got his big chance leaving his career and who managed to turn the town upside down with his ladening heroics. So, the movie spat tobacco juice at the plot and the spirit of Bernard Malamud's novel. This is Hollywood baby or should I say its Hobbsywood. Just look at that homerun go over the fence. Why, he " hobbliterated" that ball. He's the hammering Hobbsian. Batting third and playing right field, Tab Hunter as Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees. >> I'd sold my soul for one long ball hitter. >> The 1958 musicale about a paunchy middle- aged man who would do anything to help his beloved cellar- dwelling Washington senators beat the feared and hated Yankees. So, he makes a pact with the devil to be transferred into a young slugger. Batting cleanup and playing first base, Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in the Pride of the Yankees. Gehrig and Babe Ruth where the greatest sluggers of their time. Gehrig was also a wonderful family man, but then was struck down by Lou Gehrig's disease. I mean what are the odds? And then at Yankee stadium, when he retired, he gave the most famous speech in baseball history. -" Today I considered myself the luckiest man in the face of the earth ." >> Just between us, The real Gehrig gave that speech much better and unlike Cooper, he didn't hit like a girl. Speaking of which, batting fifth and playing centerfield, Madonna as Mae Mordabito in A League of their Own. >> There's a shot. It's a light shot. >> This is the partially true story of a women's baseball league that flourished during the 40's when the man and many baseball players were off to war. This is the movie where Madonna proved she could really play the field and she is famous for hitting triples. Ask any Yankee fan if she can't make it to third base. >> No wonder they call her " All The Way" Mae. >> Batting sixth, your shortstop, Chris Barnes as Tanner Boyle in The Bad News Bears. >> I'll drink to that. >> This was the inspiring story about a bunch of rotten, foul- mouth kids who were whipped into shape by rotten, foul- mouth coach Walter Mathau, but their rottiness that follows their mouth was Tanner who said words that cannot be spoken over a baseball park public address system. Let's listen, shall we?- Hey Yankees, you can take your apology and your trophy and shove it right up your ass. >> Batting seventh and playing third base, John Cusack as Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out. It's John Sayles' film of 1919 Chicago White Sox, the most infamous team in baseball history. Some of the men on the team reputedly including their top star, Shoeless Joe Jackson took money from gamblers and threw the World Series. Buck Weaver was one of the players not involved in the throwing of the games, but he was involved in the scandal. A scandal that would lead to the changing of baseball. >> I haven't taken a nickel. I don't owe anybody a damn thing. >> We let you in on the meetings. >> Look, you just play your ballgame and I'll play mine and we'll see how it comes out. >> Batting eight and playing left field, Ray Liotta as Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams. This is the revision of story that means to rescue Shoeless Joe from ignominy and make him a saint who comes out of a cornfield. >> Yeah. >> Corn being the operative word. >> I built this for you. >> Kevin Costner is the man who believes that if you build it, they will come. >> There are others you know. There were eight of us. It really means a lot to them. >> Yeah, anytime. They're all welcome here. >> Batting ninth and catching, Kevin Costner as Crash Davis in Bull Durham. >> What? >> The critics [ unk ] said that there are two kinds of baseball movies, the woozy inspirational kind and Bull Durham. It's a smart, cynical hot movie with Kevin Costner as the fading catcher who's trying to handle both the wildness of a goofy pitcher named Nuke LaLoosh, Tim Robbins and the sexual attention of a baseball Annie, Susan Sarandon. Really fans, which would you choose? >> And I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that lasted three days. Goodnight. >> Oh my. Crash. >> Hey Annie what's all these molecules stuff? >> Crash. >> You're starting pitcher, Billy Dee Williams as Bingo Long in the Bingo Long Traveling All- Stars and Motor Kings. This is the story about the Negro League team, who barnstorm through the South playing the white teams and beating them. Billy Dee is Bingo Long who is both the pitcher and the owner and playing with him are such stalwarts as James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor. And finally, your relief pitcher, Charlie Sheen as Rick " Wild Thing" Vaughn in Major League. This is the story about the Cleveland Indians, a fictitious team, who are bought by a woman determined to run them out of town, so of course, perverse guys that they are, they decided finally to play baseball like champions. There are really three kinds of baseball movies, the woozy inspirational, Bull Durham, and a hell- raising- who- gives- a- hit comedy like Major League that wants to do nothing but make you spill your popcorn and spit up your beer. >> Vaughn into the wind up at his fresh offering. Just a bit outside. >> And so the TIME Magazine All- Star Baseball Team celebrates another victory and fans, just by listening, you've been All Stars too. 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