We are less than two weeks away from the start of the 2015-2016 NBA season. On October 27th, that first magical night of basketball, we have three games: the Hawks host the Pistons, the Cavs travel to Chicago, and the Warriors will host the Pelicans. Can’t hardly wait. But tonight I’d like to talk about the terms quality and quantity. When describing sports and sports action, the terms quality and quantity are more readily understood as “qualitative” and “quantitative.”
Qualitative terms deal with “quality” and usually concern degrees of skill or comparisons of individuals or teams, such as MJ was the best shooting guard ever or Oscar was the best point guard ever. Some people believe that the 1960 Men’s Olympic basketball team was better than the 1992 “dream Team.” Qualitative terms are often based on facts but, in the end, a qualitative term is firmly rooted in opinion and personal belief.
Quantitative terms deal with “quantity” and usually involve concepts that are measurable or “quantifiable” and have a verifiable conclusion. For example, the fact that Kareem scored more points (38,387) than any other player in NBA history is a quantitative term. Or, the fact that Karl Malone scored more points (36,928) than MJ (32,292) is quantitative; however, if you say that MJ (30.1 PPG career average) was a better scorer than Malone (25.0 PPG career average), you are entering the realm of the qualitative term.
The sport of basketball is filled with endless “what-ifs” and “what could’ve beens.” We will undoubtedly discuss the game and its nuances repeatedly, and arguments over who’s the best inside player (Wilt or Russell or Kareem) or who’s the best outside player (MJ or LeBron or Oscar) will never be settled. Nonetheless, in a qualitative sense NBA basketball is a great sport, full of athleticism and skill. In a quantitative sense, NBA basketball is extremely popular and captures the imagination of millions of fans each year. Let’s enjoy the 2015-2016 season!
About the author – BILL HARVEY, Call Sign “Stats”, is the Editor of Hoops Business. He is a former basketball player, basketball referee, Army officer, and college instructor in technical writing with a public relations and journalism background. He is also the editor of the Net Set blog at http://thenetsetblog.com. BA degree from Xavier University and MA degree in Information Management.
