We know that the Milwaukee Bucks selected Jabari Parker with the 2nd overall pick during the 2014 NBA draft. This was a no-brainer pick, as Parker displayed NBA talent during his stint at Duke. But it may come as a surprise to learn that the Bucks used facial coding research as a determining factor in selecting their next superstar.
The Bucks were looking for a player who was open with a degree of happiness, but also had some anger and resolve to make things happen without being a ”hothead.” That is why they employed facial expert Dan Hill to help them determine which player in the 2014 draft class had that special trait in them to succeed.
With the use of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), the Bucks were able to monitor the facial expression of the players before the start of the draft. The Bucks read a player’s happiness, surprise, contempt, disgust, sadness, anger, and fear in order to identify emotional maturity and resiliency; and, finally, determine who would be ready for the hectic NBA schedule that is significantly more rigorous that a college basketball schedule.
Too much of one emotion can be a bad thing, take, for example, arrogance. Cockiness can be a good emotion to have on the court if it translates to confidence, but not to the point where a player is arrogant and doesn’t work well with his team. Such emotions were heavily considered before the Bucks made their choice to go with Jabari Parker in the draft.
Facial coding has impressed the organization so much that they are not only using it to analyze college students before the draft, but also free agents as well in an attempt to improve the roster. Having players with the right skill-set and attitude is key; and with facial coding, the Bucks feel that they have a “secret weapon” that may put them ahead of other teams when it comes to selecting players.