During the 2017–18 NBA season, ESPN partnered with NBA Senior Writer Baxter Holmes and Dr. Cheri Mah, a leading expert in sleep and elite athlete performance, for the third iteration of its “Schedule Alert” series. The project examined how travel, fatigue, and scheduling disadvantages impacted team performance, with a particular focus on playoff contenders and star players.
Role: Research & Editorial Strategy Lead
Full article here
The Challenge: Understand the impact of travel and fatigue on NBA team performance, uncovering how scheduling disadvantages influence game outcomes, player statistics, and individual performances throughout the 2017–18 season.
The Strategy: Collaborate with ESPN Senior Writer Baxter Holmes and Dr. Cheri Mah, a physician-scientist specializing in sleep and elite athlete performance, to identify and analyze “Schedule Alert” games where travel and fatigue disproportionately impacted one team. Leverage advanced statistical analysis to uncover compelling insights into the relationship between scheduling, fatigue, and on-court performance, with a particular focus on playoff contenders and star players.
The Execution: Served as the sole lead researcher for the third and final iteration of ESPN’s “Schedule Alert” series, analyzing over 20,000 data points using NBA Stats Cube, advanced Excel techniques, and ESPN’s proprietary databases. Translated complex data into compelling editorial insights and original graphics, culminating in a feature distributed across ESPN.com, SportsCenter, and the ESPN app.
The Impact:
ESPN's schedule alert formula predicted 77.8% of schedule-alert and red-alert losses during the 17-18 season.
Uncovering the Impact of Travel and Fatigue on NBA Performance Through Data-Driven Storytelling
