Former Grizzlies associate reveals NBA tampering with stats to boost star player's hype: "That message was reinforced internally"

NBA stats have come into question before and likely will again. Many thought the OKC Thunder were boosting the numbers for Russell Westbrook during his triple-double run in his MVP season. Many have accused current teams of adjusting stats ever so slightly to help boost the numbers of their star players. Now, there is credible proof that the practice of stat fixing has actually happened in NBA history.

Former Grizzlies scorekeeper Alex Rucker told Tom Haberstroh on a podcast that he used to adjust numbers to appease team officials. Rucker, who is now an executive with the Philadelphia 76ers, began his career as a scorekeeper for the Grizzlies when they played in Vancouver in the 90’s.

He said the team encouraged him to adjust stats for the team’s stars players. He was covertly told to give assists when they were not necessarily merited.

"There's a discussion, 'That wasn't an assist, that was a pass.' And the majority opinion by a mile was, 'Oh no, that's definitely an assist. It's John Stockton,” Rucker said. “It's up to us, in very small part, as statisticians, to support or reinforce stars and excitement. That message was reinforced internally within the Grizzlies.”

Rucker thought his job was to keep stats. He wanted to give the correct historical context.

“My job is to make the most accurate record of what happened in a game and I learned very quickly that this was not the prevailing viewpoint,” Rucker said.

The idea to adjust stats was something understood by those who worked for the team and organization. The team wanted to beef up their stars and their marketing value. This was especially true for the Vancouver Grizzlies, who were an expansion team trying to build a new fan base.

---

Grizzlies accused of changing NBA stats with Jaren Jackson Jr.

This is not the first time the Grizzlies NBA organization has been tied to a stat-changing controversy. Last season, a NBA redditor posted an online investigation to the forum tracking how Jaren Jackson Jr’s numbers were allegedly being inflated.

The NBA fan claimed the Grizzlies were trying to boost Jackson’s numbers so he could win another Defensive Player of the Year award. He went through game logs and corresponding game film to claim the Grizzlies scorekeeper was giving Jackson blocks for simply contesting shots. It also claimed he was given steals on plays where he did not strip the ball away.

He also went in-depth to notice how different Jackson’s stats were on the road compared to at home. The redditor's investigation came to the conclusion that Jackson recorded 89 percent more steals and blocks at home than on the road during the first half of last season. The NBA or the Grizzlies never commented on the findings.