Can You Be Too Tall to Ball? | NBA Height Analysis
Investigating the correlation between player height and success in the NBA through data visualisation. Created for DECO3100 at the University of Sydney.
Project Overview
Team: Margaux Thwaites, Griffen Edge, Miguel Tamondong
Tools:Microsoft ExcelAdobe Illustrator
Deliverable: Infographic
My Role
Creative Direction & Visual Design
Designed custom graphics, layout, and data visualizations
Subject Research
Compiled and validated player statistics from primary sources
Does height impact your overall success in the NBA?
The NBA is a professional basketball league formed in the United States in 1949. Since then, there have been a multitude of changes to rules; the factors which influence player success are constantly changing. However, one factor that has stayed constant is the average height of an NBA player. Between the years of 1982 and 2016, the average height has stayed consistently between 6’6” and 6’7”. This is significant because, for comparison, the average height of an American male over the same period has remained at around 5’9”. With a 9” - 10” height difference between the average population and NBA players, it’s clear that height has something to do with being a successful enough basketball player to play in the NBA. We’re interested in the extent to which this trend, whereby being taller you are more likely to succeed, persists within the microcosmic population of players in the NBA. Overall, how a player’s height correlates to their success in the NBA, is what we are looking to investigate.
Introduction Insights
The Height Constant
NBA player heights have remained remarkably consistent (6'6"-6'7" on average since 1982) - nearly a foot taller than the average American male (5'9"). This visualisation investigates whether height correlates with success within the NBA.
The Core Question
While height clearly helps players reach the NBA, does being taller continue to provide an advantage among professional players? And is there a point where additional height becomes detrimental? We aim to investigate how a player's height correlates to their success in the NBA.
Key Findings
1Dominant Heights for Minutes Played
While the mean height of an NBA player is 6'7", the mode (most popular) height at which NBA minutes are played is 6'9". Similarly, the most seasonal playing stints are overwhelmingly by players around this 6'9" height.
2Performance Consistency Across a Broad Height Range
There is an observable central plateau of average minutes per player for heights between 5'9" and 7'3". This conveys that while it is less common for players outside the 6' to 7' range to play in the NBA, those who do consistently perform on par with players at more common heights in terms of minutes played.
3Outliers at Height Extremes
Players who make it to the NBA at heights outside the 5'9" to 7'3" range either enjoy a significantly above average or significantly below average number of minutes. Notably, the success of some very short players (e.g., 5'3") represents an outlying point of possible development for the initial hypothesis.
4PER Consistency Over Time
Through the exploratory data analysis, it was found that the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is a consistent measure across the time periods (1982-2016) represented by the dataset. The analysis showed no real growth or variance in PER scores overall since 1982, affirming its reliability for comparisons across different eras.
Visualisation
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Full Report
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Conclusion
While height remains a critical factor for entering the NBA, our analysis of minutes played reveals that the most frequent successful height is around 6'9". We observe a performance plateau for players between 5'9" and 7'3", suggesting that within this broad range, players who reach the NBA consistently perform, relative to their minutes played. Extremes outside this range tend to show more volatile performance. Furthermore, the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) demonstrates consistent reliability as a performance metric across different eras, allowing for meaningful comparisons over time.
This project demonstrates how data visualisation can uncover nuanced relationships in sports performance metrics that challenge conventional wisdom.