NBA TIP OFF - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | NBA Playoffs 2024–2025: LOAD MANAGEMENT
SGA | NBA Playoffs 2024–2025: AN Intersection of Data and Design
With the new NBA season tipping off, it's the perfect time to reflect on last year’s Finals MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. His playoff run was a masterclass in peak performance, and we sought to visualize his incredible player load and success.
Could SGA possibly repeat this remarkable, 3-time MVP-level performance this year?
Inspired by the infographics of people like Kirk Goldsberry, this infographic below captures the sheer physical demand: SGA logged 851 total minutes across 23 playoff games, averaging nearly 37 minutes per game, all while leading the Thunder to an NBA Championship, League MVP, Finals MVP, and Scoring Champion honors.
Beyond the numbers, it’s a celebration of a great Canadian player who’s quickly becoming the face of the league, and one of the most exciting athletes to watch heading into this season.
The Business Takeaway: Data without Design is just Noise.
In the modern NBA (and in every industry), organizations are swimming, and sometimes drowning, in data. We have Sony Hawkeye tracking asymmetry, 29 joint angles, and complex player movement.
But as this visualization demonstrates, information is useless unless it’s contextualized and communicated the right way.
This is where design becomes the nexus for innovation:
Transforming Data into Understanding.
Creating Signal from Noise.
Bringing Meaning to Complexity.
Without a deliberate design and communication strategy, even the most profound data sets just sit flat. They fail to inform critical decisions about load management, talent investment, and strategy.
What This Means for the 2025-2026 Season
This visualization of SGA’s sustained, high-volume performance sets the stage for the new season. The Thunder are now the hunted. Every team has analyzed these numbers.
The challenge for SGA and the Thunder now is to translate a historic individual performance into a dynasty. The pressure is on to repeat, and the West is more competitive than ever. It will be a true test of whether the design of their team and the durability of their superstar can withstand the increased scrutiny.
Can SGA repeat? What team's data-driven strategy do you think poses the biggest threat to the champion Thunder this year?
By Jason Jay | Contender Studio
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