Memphis Grizzlies allegedly boosting Jaren Jackson Jr's stats at home / News - Basketnews.com

A Reddit user made a deep dive into Jaren Jackson Jr.'s this year's defensive stats and found some highly questionable abnormalities. The user provided examples of the plays where Jackson Jr. was credited with blocks or steals when his teammates should've been given the credit.

Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP - Scanpix Credit Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP - Scanpix

A post is trending on Reddit which alleges that the Memphis Grizzliestable officials are boosting Jaren Jackson Jr.'s defensive stats during home games.

3-pointers this season

35%11,4Points made:11,4Accuracy:34,7%Place in standings:19Record max:19Record min:5Most made 3FGs:Desmond BaneTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

A r/NBA Reddit user took a look at the player's two defensive stats - blocks and steals - and noticed that they are much higher when the Grizzlies play in Memphis. In fact, they seem to be beyond a reasonable degree of variance this season.

For example, Jackson Jr. averages 2.2 blocks on road games but a whopping 4.1 blocks at home. The same story goes with steals - 0.7 on the road and 1.4 at home. All other stats are largely the same regardless of the arena Jackson Jr. played in.

Eight out of nine games where Jackson Jr. made 6+ blocks and assists combined came at home.

Jackson Jr. played 78 games last season, and the home/away splits were largely the same - 2.4 blocks at home, 2.1 blocks on the road, and 1.1 steals at home, 0.8 steals on the road.

The user then decided to take a closer look at this year's situations where Jackson Jr. was credited with a block or a steal during the matches he played.

In fact, the user found several instances when Jackson Jr. was credited with a block or a steal that his teammate should've been credited with.

In example no. 1, Jackson Jr. is given a block although Zion Williamson never even attempts a shot.

In example no. 2, Jordan Clarkson throws the ball away to Desmond Bane but the steal is given to Jackson Jr.

In example no. 3, Xavier Tillman grabs Kelly Olynyk's lost ball but the steal is given to Jackson Jr.

In one more example, Desmond Bane picks up Darius Garland's bad pass but Jackson Jr. is credited with the steal.

The user continues to post several more examples of supposedly incorrect stat decisions.

Memphis Grizzlies / Schedule

Phoenix Suns Memphis Grizzlies112-110 Sacramento Kings Memphis Grizzlies133-100 Golden State Warriors Memphis Grizzlies122-120 Minnesota Timberwolves Memphis Grizzlies111-100 Memphis Grizzlies Indiana PacersSun23:00 Memphis Grizzlies Portland Trail BlazersThu00:00 Cleveland Cavaliers Memphis GrizzliesFri00:30

The issue of home team table officials inflating some of the stats has been known for years. In fact, a former statistician for the Grizzlies in the 90s told a story to Deadspin in 2009 where he admitted making assists up for Nick van Exel.

The Salt Lake Tribune has done some research regarding the topic, and the outlet's journalist Andy Larsen found out that assist numbers vary greatly between home and away courts with the gain percentage ranging up to 27%.

According to New York Knicks beat writer for The Athletic Fred Katz, official scorers handle fouls while NBA reviews stats like blocks and steals in real time. Katz notes that each NBA team has inputters/callers, which are different from official scorers. One of the callers who's at the game with a headset will have input with tracking stats in real time.

The Ringer's journalist Kevin O'Connor looked at this particular case and found that 3 blocks out of 66 that were credited to Jackson Jr. at home were incorrect, which would fall under the expected variance.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is currently the front-runner to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award this season. Caesar's Sportsbook has removed the market from their offering since the post became widespread. Meanwhile, BetMGM and FanDuel have changed Jaren Jackson Jr.'s odds to win the trophy down from -215 favorite to +110 and -140. Nic Claxton went from +900 to +375 and +330.

Thank you for reading us! Help us even more.