The YODA Guide to the 2023 NBA Draft

When he was a lowly stat guy with the Portland Trail Blazers, former NBA executive (and championship-winning high school coach) Ben Falk had an idea borne from his data analysis. He shared it with the coaching staff, and they liked it enough to make it part of the game plan.

Then head coach Terry Stotts, turned to Falk and the conversation went something like this:

Stotts: Are you sure about this?

Falk: Yes.

Stotts: Good. Because tomorrow before the game, I’m going to tell reporters this was your idea.

Falk: {clears throat unable to speak}

He then went back to his office and double-checked everything. As Falk told the story, it was one thing to make a suggestion privately. It was something else…