The Math Behind Why Dream Teamers Have No Problems In The NBA After Playing For Team USA

Worried about your favorite NBA player’s performance after the Olympics? Scared over the famous wear-and-tear theory? Well, don’t be.

FiveThirtyEight has done the math and assure that “playing for Team USA doesn’t hurt NBA stars the next season.”

Contrary to popular belief, FiveThirtyEight’s numbers suggest that playing for Team USA at a big event like the Olympics could actually boost the performance of players in the following NBA season. In two separate analyses, Jim Pagels and Neil Paine came to the conclusion that Team USA members performed better in their home teams after playing major tournaments for the United States, especially after the Olympics.

Related Link: Expect A Short-Lived Olympics Bounce For Brazil ETFs

However, the methods used in the calculations above do not account for playing time lost due to injuries suffered while playing for Team USA. So, Paine used an alternate method that takes into account both performance and playing time. Still, results showed Dream Teamers outperforming their own projections after playing for the national team.

While correlation does not imply causality, the evidence found “does provide decent proof that declines in production aren’t traditionally associated with the extra pounding of an event such as the Olympics. For most players, the international stage is a springboard to bigger and better things, not a career-hampering pitfall,” the article concluded.

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Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.