In a corner of the training facility, an area had been sectioned off to resemble a monitoring room, filled with several screens and various electronic devices.
High-speed cameras positioned at different angles throughout the facility recorded the players’ training sessions and transmitted the footage to these screens.
At the same time, every player wore the same patch sensors the Phoenix Suns had been using, placed on key areas like their limbs and chest. These sensors collected the players’ movement data in real time and fed it into a data model.
Over time, this would generate a sufficiently large data sample, which could then be analyzed to determine a player’s physical condition.
For example, if their movement speed had slowed or their vertical jump had decreased.
Much of this data isn’t clear to the naked eye; quantified data allows for more precise analysis.
Once data analysis revealed a problem with a player’s condition, the cause could be pinpointed and adjustments could be made promptly.
And this was just the beginning.
Chen Yu had discussed with Jackson that if they had the space, they could set up a full motion-capture system like those in sports labs to identify player issues with even greater specificity.
The company’s technical director, Ron Parker, was leading his assistants in teaching the Lakers’ video analysts how to operate the system.
Ron Parker had been one of the members of Nelson’s original six-person team when the sports lab was founded. With the establishment of the company, he was promoted to technical director, responsible for overseeing the integration of all the electronic equipment.
"Chen, this analysis is incredible, but is it really useful?"
Standing beside Chen Yu, legendary star Sky Hook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar craned his neck, curiously examining the setup before speaking up.
After retiring, the old-timer hadn’t left the world of basketball and had even tried his hand at coaching.
In the ’99-’00 season, he briefly served as the head coach for the Clippers.
He quickly lost that job, then headed to Oklahoma City to coach a Summer League team.
This season, Jackson had invited him back to help Olajuwon train and develop Yao Ming.
Knowing Yao Ming was the future of the Lakers, Jackson was sparing no effort in his development.
Olajuwon, standing behind him, immediately chimed in, "Kareem, of course it’s useful. It can provide a comprehensive analysis of a player’s condition. For example, look at this data point—it’s his shooting percentage after physical contact."
When two players wearing sensors made contact, the software could identify the abrupt change in data, flag it, and then cross-reference it with shooting data to determine a player’s shooting stability after contact with a fair degree of accuracy.
Jabbar thought for a moment. "Is all this really necessary? To see if a guy is consistent, isn’t the best way to just put him on the court and see how many points he can score against a defender?"
Having played in a bygone era, Jabbar wasn’t great at adapting to these new technologies. To this day, he still couldn’t use a computer proficiently and didn’t even own a smartphone.
In his mind, you could tell if a player was consistent—or, more accurately, dominant—just by watching their performance on the court.
’Just like me. Everyone knew I was going to use the Celestial Hook, but nobody could stop it.’
Now that was consistency!
Chen Yu smiled. "That’s certainly one way to look at it, but our true purpose with data analysis is to discover a player’s strengths and weaknesses. For instance, with the data point Hakeem mentioned, we can use our model to analyze whether a player is more efficient shooting from the perimeter, after battling inside, or even after taking contact at a specific spot on the floor."
"Then, based on the results, we can design corresponding plays or create targeted training regimens."
Jabbar thought for a moment, getting the gist of it, and remarked, "Technology is advancing so fast. I feel like us old-timers can’t keep up anymore."
Chen Yu just smiled and turned his attention back to the Lakers’ practice.
Training camp had begun with 17 players on the roster, two of whom would have to be cut.
However, the Lakers’ new-season lineup was more or less set.
The starting five would likely be Yao Ming, Odom, Pippen, Kobe, and Fisher.
Aside from Pippen being a bit over the hill, it was a solid starting lineup.
But their bench was a different story entirely.
This was the main reason Chen Yu felt the Lakers couldn’t challenge the Phoenix Suns.
Not only were the Suns’ starters dominant, but their bench was also terrifying.
The Lakers had been hamstrung by O’Neal’s massive contract for the past two years. Compounding that were poor drafting and stingy attempts at reinforcement, leaving them with a weak roster and no valuable trade assets.
The core of the bench consisted mainly of center Medvedenko, Gugliotta, Rick Fox, and Devon George.
Olajuwon, who had played for them the previous year, had since retired.
As for Teylon Hill, the Lakers had wanted to keep him after his contract expired over the summer, but after drafting Brian Cook, they ultimately decided not to re-sign him.
The rest of the players were all picked up from free agency.
To bolster their backcourt, they re-signed Tyronn Lue from the Wizards, a key contributor to their past championship runs.
Guard Jannero Pargo was also retained.
They also signed Raja Bell from the Mavericks to add some perimeter shooting.
Finally, they snagged center Keon Clark from the Kings.
The Kings had signed him last year with the idea of using him against O’Neal, but he never saw much action. After a poor playoff performance, the Kings cut him outright.
The Kings may have turned their noses up at him, but Jackson wasn’t a picky eater. He offered Clark a contract to at least add some size to the frontcourt.
For the past couple of years, serviceable centers had been truly hard to come by.
Add in this year’s second-round pick, Luke Walton, and barring any surprises, that was the 15-man roster.
Chen Yu’s current task was not just to set up the various systems for the Lakers, but also to create customized training and improvement plans for these players based on the coaching staff’s development goals.
This was a crucial part of his consulting services.
To do this well, Chen Yu not only recruited top-tier trainers like Jordan’s exclusive trainer, Tim Grover, but also, as he had with Old Curry, brought in several veterans.
Ewing, Oakley, and Mookie Blaylock were the first batch.
In the future, Chen Yu planned to recruit even more.
The combination of professional scientific analysis equipment, top-tier trainers, and proven veterans with exceptional skills and rich experience was the key to providing these players with the most professional training and skill-enhancement services.
For now, Chen Yu’s primary task before the start of the new season was to use data analysis to see if this group of players could live up to the Lakers coaching staff’s expectations.
Every signing an NBA team makes has a purpose.
The coaching staff first considers what kind of players they need based on their tactical scheme, and only then does the scouting department provide suitable candidates based on years of statistical data and analysis reports.
But after these players were signed, whether they could meet the coaches’ expectations remained a big question mark.
Take Tyronn Lue, for example. They signed him banking on his defensive hustle, hoping he could compensate for Fisher’s defensive struggles against quick point guards.
They also hoped he could contribute a bit from three-point range.
But that was the ideal scenario; whether it could be realized in practice was anyone’s guess.
For a role player like Tyronn Lue, the team’s expectations weren’t particularly high; he’d likely just be asked to do one or two things well.
But some players couldn’t even handle those one or two things.
This was where Chen Yu came in. He needed to use data analysis to help the Lakers determine if Tyronn Lue could meet their requirements.
And if not, was there potential for him to reach that level?
If it was determined there was no hope, they could cut their losses early and look for other reinforcements.
Alternatively, if Chen Yu’s analysis uncovered some hidden potential in Tyronn Lue—a knack for steals, for example—that would be an unexpected bonus for the Lakers.
This wasn’t a job that could be done in a day or two.
The Lakers were the first NBA client for Chen Yu’s consulting firm.
The first step is always the hardest, and Chen Yu was determined to make this partnership a success. For the foreseeable future, he would remain in Los Angeles, personally overseeing his team’s work.
Training camp was scheduled to last one week. Four days from now, at its conclusion, Chen Yu would provide Jackson with a preliminary analysis report, offering data-backed support and recommendations as they finalized the main roster.
"What’s this...?"
「Four days later」Inside Jackson’s office, he was slowly flipping through an analysis report that was hundreds of pages long when he noticed one player’s section was unusually lengthy.
"Raja Bell?"
The bulk of the report naturally focused on the starters and main rotation players, taking up the most space.
But Raja Bell, a role player signed with the expectation he’d be warming the bench, had a section nearly as long as Odom’s.
This was more than enough to pique Jackson’s curiosity.
Chen Yu nodded, glanced at Mookie Blaylock beside him, and said with a smile, "Phil, our team believes he has the potential to become an excellent perimeter defender. We recommend you re-evaluate his development track."
In Jackson’s blueprint, Raja Bell didn’t have a significant role.
A major reason for this had to do with Kobe.
Kobe’s playing time was extremely high.
Last season, it had reached a staggering 41.5 minutes per game.
Therefore, the Lakers’ requirements for a backup shooting guard weren’t that high; they just needed someone who could give Kobe a few minutes of rest.
As for Raja Bell, he had some decent performances with the Mavericks last season.
But that was the extent of it. Averaging just 3.1 points per game, his efficiency was far too low.
However, thanks to his outstanding athleticism, he posed some threat as a slasher and had some three-point shooting ability.
But on the defensive end, he hadn’t really shown much.
Jackson set the file down and gestured for Chen Yu to continue.
Chen Yu said, "While studying the data, we discovered a particularly interesting data point. When a perimeter player starts to drive and creates a threat, Raja Bell responds with exceptional speed."
"You’re primarily running a zone defense this season, not sticking to fixed man-to-man assignments. We noticed that as soon as an opposing player penetrates the three-point line—regardless of whether they enter his designated zone—he is consistently the first person to react and make a move."
With everyone wearing sensors, the slightest movement is immediately reflected in the data.
"This means he’s constantly reading the floor and can respond instantly, which indicates excellent help-defense potential."
Good help defenders are always aware of everything happening on the court.
"Secondly, in one-on-one defensive situations, the data also shows that his defensive reaction time is very fast."
When both players are wearing sensors, a simple data comparison can reveal their reaction speeds.
"And his reaction time is second only to Kobe’s on the entire team."
"Therefore, even though his defensive habits aren’t great and he’s not very experienced, his outstanding reaction time means he still has the potential to become an excellent perimeter defender."

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