Fans of advanced stats will be able to enjoy it a little more. Already quite extensive on the subject, the official website of the NBA recently acquired a new section, those of “violations”, the different whistles that can result in a lost ball or a sanction by a player.
All these playing errors are detailed, from walks to counterattacks on the downswing, to “discontinuous” dribbling, when a player, for example, passes his hand under the ball before resuming his dribble. It's sometimes futile, sometimes fascinating, but it doesn't shine a spotlight on one player in particular: Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks star was “only” fourth in total turnovers last season, behind Luka Doncic, Domantas Sabonis and Victor Wembanyama, but he is the leader in three of these “violations”: walks, force passes and ball carriers. And this, sometimes in large proportions. The Greek bulldozer was sanctioned with 36 marches in 2023/2024, almost one every two matches, having played 73 matches.
The “competition” is far behind: his runner-up Sabonis has 24 and there are only five players who have seen themselves whistled at even half or more than half the number of marches of the “Greek Freak” last year (23 for Jordan Poole, 20 for Cam Thomas, 19 for Collin Sexton, and 18 for Paulo Banchero).
Nearly two such whistles per match
The gap is also significant in terms of ball carriers, with five “violations” of this type, the only player with Scoot Henderson (3) to have more than two last season. Fourth in offensive fouls, eighth in whistles for three-seconds in attack, or even in the Top 10 in counterattacks in the descending phase (dominated by the surprising Hornet, Nick Richards), Giannis Antetokounmpo dominates the overall ranking with 135 game fouls , or 1.85 on average per match.
This count, however, does not take into account the 10 seconds to shoot a free throw, which had caused a lot of talk in the case of the Milwaukee interior.
The Wisconsin franchise has another leader in these advanced stats, Brook Lopez, first and by far in the defensive three-seconds (20 against 12 for Derek Lively II, second). In attack, the player most penalized for having camped a little too long in the paint is French, Rudy Gobert, with eight balls lost in this way.
Gobert, Jokic or Theis “in the spotlight”
Among the other curiosities, we learn that Anthony Davis and Cam Thomas are the most penalized in 2023-2024 by returns to the zone (4), that the neo-Maverick Naji Marshall is the only one to have been penalized twice for having pain executed a throw-in, or that Nikola Jokic also showed his footwork with 26 “feet”, a ranking dominated by European players with Nikola Vucevic second and Daniel Theis third.
The German center can claim the title of “kick GOAT”, with the highest average of kicks on the ball per game since this figure was recorded by the NBA, with more than a foot every five games. Not bad for a player who averages just 19 minutes per game in his career.
