Webquest: Evaluating Basketball Statistics

Robert Fishel
Liberty University

Introduction
Many people are basketball fans, but they are not always aware of the math that is used to
develop different player and team statistics. The National Basketball Association (NBA)
calculates data on individual players, teams, divisions, and conferences for the media and sports
community. In this webquest you will investigate various connections between math and
basketball.
Tasks
Below you will be asked a series of questions that explore basketball statistics. As you
answer each question, use the web-based links to complete each task. In order to complete each
question you will be a computer, access to the internet, paper, and a pencil. Enjoy exploring each
link, and now it is time for the Tip-Off.
1. What is a Scoring Average?
2. How is a Scoring Average calculated?
PLAYER
James Harden
Lebron James
Stephen Curry

GAMES PLAYED (GP)

53
45
51

POINTS (PTS)
1451
1167
1203

SCORING AVERAGE (PPG)

3. Order the scoring averages from least to greatest.

4. Calculate the scoring averages for 25 players in the 2013-14 Season.
5. Find the historical player stats for the top 10 players for points scored in NBA History.
6. Calculate the scoring average for each player.
7. Create a table for your results.
8. How many players led the league in scoring, also won the most valuable player award in the
same season?
Resources
Wikipedia
basketball-reference
ESPN-NBA Statistics

Evaluation
1. Print or save tables, graphs and other data you created in this webquests.
2. Discuss your findings with a classmate.
3. Create five original problems from other sports data.
4. Share your problems on Edmodo.
5. Add the graphs you created to our Edmodo page.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have explored how math is involved with basketball statistics. These
investigations should help you better understand of the connections between sports, averages and
statistics, and other areas of mathematics.