David Sparks graduated from Duke with a Ph.D. in Political Science. While he was a graduate student he practiced statistical modeling on basketball data sets - he is now the Director of Basketball Analytics for the Boston Celtics. He returned to his alma mater recently to talk with undergrads about their career goals and how statistical competence played such an important role for him on the job market. And he is among a few uniquely qualified to discuss the history of statistical modeling in the NBA.
Political Science