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Where Birth Happens (flag)

Fun things to do with Google Maps #2: plot the birthplace of every current NBA player.

As with the blog map, use the controls on the left to zoom, and drag 'n drop to pan. This time, multiple players from the same city are grouped into a single marker, with the number indicating how many players are represented. Click markers to see the list of players. You can also filter by team.

Choose a team:

vote down Jason Jason posted 11/29/2007
35 Comments
  • tykeenan tykeenan
    +4

    Thoughts on the eastern dominance: Could it have something do with weather? Something like the need to play an indoor sport in the winter and late fall (when schools are in session and organized sports most often take place) affecting year-round play. It would be interesting to see the concentrations for other sports, too.

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • Zorgon Zorgon
    +5

    I found Adonal! St.Vincent and the Grenadines = Pwnage

     And as far as the Suns, you're not counting Antartica. Until we construct biodomes, that dream will never be possible. Mwahahahaha!!!!

     Anyway, jeez, this must've taken a lot of work. Nice job, Jason, these maps are really interesting!

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • DSPN DSPN
    +3

    Canada's best baller is South African. Those crazy immigrants.

    P.S. I think your need a much bigger map, along with 50+ translations for your upcoming MLB feature.

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • gurdflavor gurdflavor
    +3
    Very cool Jason; you've even got Kyrylo Fesenko on there! There's as many players from the Caribbean Islands as there are from all of South America.
    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • ashman ashman
    +5
    I doubt this will teach anything to the Slam commenters, but it's nice to see Argentina in South America.
    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • thehope41 thehope41
    +2
    MartelL Webster is from Edmonds, Wa, that's right near Seattle...not somewhere in the middle of the Eastern part of the state.
    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
    • tziller tziller
      +2
      Looks like a typo caused that -- the source has Martell from 'Edmond, WA', which doesn't exist.
      Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • Mutombo Mutombo
    +3

    How you leave me out of Congo and put Mbenga!!?? I block many more shots and wave finga. Mutombo angry!

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
    • Jason Jason
      +2
      Another good catch--Dikembe's marker was hidden behind DJ's.  That's fixed now as well.
      Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • goathair_3 goathair_3
    +6

    I thought LeBron was from another planet.

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • colorado620 colorado620
    +3
    MISSING? Keyon Dooling, Orlando Magic, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • kpelton kpelton
    +3
    Hey Jason, do you have a list of the cities that put the most players in the NBA? Looks like Chicago and Philly, benefiting from the fact that New York's players are divided up.
    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
    • Jason Jason
      +4

      As you note, boroughs and suburbs cloud this somewhat, but here are the top ten individual cities:

      Chicago, IL        17
      Los Angeles, CA    14
      Philadelphia, PA   10
      Dallas, TX          9
      Houston, TX         7
      Seattle, WA         7
      Portland, OR        6
      New York, NY        6
      Milwaukee, WI       5
      Atlanta, GA         5

      Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • chizat chizat
    +2

    Great article.

     One mistake:  Carlos Boozer was born in Germany. 

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • pguilian pguilian
    +3

    Chicago is on top even with the NYC boroughs added together. 

     Chicago 17

    NYC 16

    LA 16 (the valley is part of LA)

    Philly 10

     #'s based on a rough perusal.

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • trustory247 trustory247
    +2

    I believe Gilbert Arenas aka Agent Zero aka The Black President was born in Miami not LA

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • Jason Jason
    +2

    Interesting - Yahoo/ESPN/etc., who presumably use the official NBA bio data, have Boozer in Alaska and Gilbert in L.A.

    Wikipedia (and other sources) have them in Germany and Florida.  Maybe there is something to this Wikiality thing.

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • Arrowhead Addict Arrowhead Addict
    +2

    For me, it's very ironic that Kareem Rush plays for the Pacers. I was born in Kansas City and am a life-long Pacers fan, and the only player born in K.C. plays for the Pacers. I knew that, but really hadn't thought it through.

     Nice work, by the way!

    Posted 11/29/2007 respond (flag)
  • twoeightnine twoeightnine
    +1
    New Zealand isn't part of the Australian continent, it's part of Oceania or Zealandia.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_%28continent%29

    So the Suns are missing Asia, Australia and Antarctica.
    Posted 11/30/2007 respond (flag)
    • chone chone
      +4
      Technically, the only people born in Antarctica would be citizens of Chile or Argentina, since those are the only two countries with year round research stations (and pregnant women usually aren't allowed to winter over because medical personnell can't get there). So maybe the suns should call this guy?
      Posted 11/30/2007 respond (flag)
  • missgossip missgossip
    +2
    I did not know that JJ Barea was a PR.....

    For a second I was confused why I couldn't find Pops Mensah-Bonsu in England.... Still in denial about him getting dropped from the league.
    Posted 11/30/2007 respond (flag)
  • adam.d.jacobs adam.d.jacobs
    +2

    If anyone's interested, I put a related post on the APBRMetrics forum last year, though without any graphics. I looked at changes over time and it appeared that traditional basketball havens like Kentucky and Indiana were being gradually being outproduced by Western and Southern states.

     

    http://tinyurl.com/ysqj56

    Posted 11/30/2007 respond (flag)
  • straight.bangin straight.bangin
    +2
    This is a towering accomplishment.
    Posted 11/30/2007 respond (flag)
  • cwallen cwallen
    +1
    Elton Brand was born in Cortlandt, NY, near Peekskill, just north of NYC
    Posted 12/1/2007 respond (flag)
  • truthaboutit truthaboutit
    +4

    Nice work Jason...Yea, it's easy to see that this correlates to US population density as you pointed out, but I was curious about which states produce the most talent.

    I broke your numbers out according to NBA players per capita for each state.

    Interesting stuff.

    http://www.truthaboutit.net/2007/11/us-state-expansion-onwhere-are-nba.html 

     

    www.truthaboutit.net 

    Posted 12/1/2007 respond (flag)
  • truthaboutit truthaboutit
    +1

     

    BTW....you may kill yourself if you try to do this for other sports. Can you include NFL practice squads too? Just kidding....

    www.truthaboutit.net

    Posted 12/1/2007 respond (flag)
12 Blogs Link to this Story

Wolves Updates 11/29
TWolves Blog - Minnesota Timberwolves News and Articles — ... Jason at Ballhype plots the birthplace of every current NBA player.  The results can also be sorted by team.  ...

Where Are NBA Players From?
ESPN.com - True Hoop - Blog — ... Jason Gurney of Ballhype did a fancy little thing with Google Maps that plots the birthplace of every single NBA player. You can also sort by team. ...

Greenland’s Hoops Suckiness Confirmed
Can't Stop The Bleeding — I don’t get it.  Can’t the Suns or Spurs send a qualified scout to Godthaab for a few years?

Thursday Footnotes
Sactown Royalty — ... Ballhype's Jason Gurney put the birthplaces of every NBA player into a Google Map. Man, Beno Udrih is far from home. That map's a lot of fun to look at; the player born closest to Sacramento was a bit of a surprise. Concord's finest! ...

Seattle Hoops Represent!
Enjoy the Enjoyment — ... Over at Ballhype, Jason created a Google Maps mashup that shows the birthplace of every NBA player. Is Seattle represented? Yes, oh yes. ...

The coolest thing you'll ever see.
Posting and Toasting — ... has done us one better: a map with every single birthplace of every single NBA player on it. Shit's crazy, awesome, and crazy awesome. Go check it out, and kill a couple hours scanning around the globe for your favorite players. I know I did.

Today's quality shots
Bullets Forever — ... Hogs Haven, Steinberg, and Jason LaCanfora have been doing an outstanding job covering the Sean Taylor tragedy. Keep those diaries coming. A pessimist would look at the number one guy on this list.  An optimist would consider the guy who should be on there and is five years younger. Michael Lee loves him some Pacers. Ballhype's Jason Gurney plots the birthplace of every NBA player on a Google map.  Fun times.

Where Amazing Birth Happens.
SportsFilter — Jason Gurney of Ballhype sets up a Google Map that plots the birthplace of every current NBA player. Shamelessly stolen from TrueHoop. Read Story.

The Boston Celtics Are America's Team
FanHouse — ... plotted the birthplaces of every NBA player on a map, and if you sort by various teams, you'll see that the Celtics are one of four teams in the league that's 100% American born and bred. Xenophobes unite! Everyone cheer for the leprechauns! (Why not cheer for the other three? Because I can't really picture many people getting behind the Knicks, Clippers and Pacers these days ...) ...

Friday Bucks Notes
Brew Hoop — ... One of the coolest things I've seen in a while: Jason at Ballhype Googlemaps every NBA player's birthplace. You can filter by team, as well as zoom in and look at a specific area. Milwaukee is home to five NBA'ers: Chris Mihm, Devin Harris, Anthony Carter, Mike Wilks, and Carl Landry. ...

A U.S. State Expansion On...Where Are NBA Players From?
Truth About It - Washington Wizards Blog — Very cool stuff by Jason Gurney of BallHype....using Basketball-Reference.com, Yahoo and Google Maps, he was able to plot the birthplace of every NBA player. ...

Come Get Some LeBron
RedsArmy.com - The Voice Of Celtics Fans — ...   |  Full map of where every NBA player was born (C’s one of 4 teams with no foreign born players) ...