Take 5 with Dean Oliver

About this episode

Michael Walz interviews Dean Oliver about his contributions to data-driven decisions in sports and his work in basketball analytics.

Jepson student Michael Walz, ’26, sits down with Jepson Leadership Forum speaker Dean Oliver prior to his Jepson Leadership Forum presentation "The Push for Data-Driven Decisions in Sports." Oliver, currently a data scientist at ESPN, pioneered the basketball analytics movement and is the author of "Basketball on Paper" and "Basketball Beyond Paper." He incorporated analytics in his roles in the NBA front offices and as an assistant coach and helped create ESPN’s sports analytics group in 2011. Take 5 is a series of informal interviews with the scholars and experts who present as part of the lecture series. Nov. 17, 2025

People in this episode

Guest: Dean Oliver

Topics covered

• data-driven decisions
• sports analytics
• basketball analytics

Keywords

• Jepson Leadership Forum
• ESPN
• Basketball on Paper
• Basketball Beyond Paper

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Basketball on Paper, Basketball Beyond Paper

Books & works: The Push for Data-Driven Decisions in Sports, Basketball on Paper, Basketball Beyond Paper

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