The Sacramento Kings have hired Luke Bornn as their Vice President of Strategy and Analytics. Bornn will use data engineering and collection to provide the front office with information that will help with decision-making on roster compilation, player evaluation and overall strategy. He will also provide the training staff with data analysis through wearable devices.
Kings general manager Vlade Divac particularly likes that Bornn can make data and information digestible and useful.
“Basketball is not science,” Divac told the Sacramento Bee. “You have talent, you develop your players, you play hard. But you want to get players who complement each other, and analytics helps in that regard. Marc Gasol (of the Memphis Grizzlies) the other day said stats are killing the game because a lot of stuff that’s important can’t be quantified. Luke is able to identify what’s important and explain things in language we can understand.”
Get The Latest NBA Tech News In Your Inbox!
Before joining the Kings, Bornn taught at Harvard and Simon Frasier University and served as Head of Analytics for A.S. Roma. He has also written for several academic journals, offering insights on topics such as predicting possession outcomes in NBA contests and the spatial anatomy of defensive success.
The Kings have had some ups and down with personnel over the last few years. They have had six head coaches in the past six seasons and earlier this past season traded DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans. Their technology presence has always been strong and consistent.