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Basketball analytics investment is key to NBA wins and other successes, says study

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MIT study quantifies influence of basketball analytics investment on team performance.

Analytics department headcount had a positive and statistically significant effect on team wins.

For every four-fifths of one data analyst, a team gains one additional win in a season .

A data analyst's impact is worth at least $9 million , researchers say.

Henry Wang and his colleagues gathered data on each of the 30 NBA teams over a period from 2009 to 2023 .

In 2009 , a total of 10 data analysts were working across the NBA .

In 2023 , that number ballooned to 132 , with some teams employing more analysts than others.

Wang : "We're still at a point where the analyst is undervalued".