Kirk Goldsberry
#333,642 Most Popular
About
Basketball writer, data-visualization expert, and NBA analyst known for being the Vice President for Strategic Research for the San Antonio Spurs, for being a lead analyst for Team USA Basketball, and for his books SprawlBall: A Visual Tour of the New Era of the NBA and Hoop Atlas: Mapping the Remarkable Transformation of the Modern NBA.
Before Fame
He developed an early fascination with basketball shot patterns while playing pickup games. He graduated from Penn State University in 1999 with a degree in Geography before earning his master's and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and finished his doctorate in 2007. He spent several years teaching at Michigan State University and became a visiting scholar and lecturer at Harvard University. His academic background in geography and cartography laid the framework for his innovative basketball-mapping work. He debuted his signature NBA shot-chart system at the 2012 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
Trivia
He once wrote an article called "The Kobe Assist" which became a widely referenced analytic concept that was inspired by Kobe Bryant' shot selection patterns.
Family Life
He grew up in State College, Pennsylvania.
Associated With
He has worked alongside major NBA figures including Gregg Popovich during his tenure with the San Antonio Spurs.
