In the last couple weeks, there has been much chatter surrounding Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal. It is being reported that Jimmy Butler wants to land in Phoenix, and that would likely involve needing Beal’s contract to be moved (perhaps to a third team). The problem is, Beal has a no-trade clause in his deal that he would have to waive. Also, Beal, along with Jusuf Nurkic, were recently benched by Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer. They were replaced in the starting lineup with Ryan Dunn and Mason Plumlee.
Basketball sports writer Zach Lowe recently tweeted about Beal, but it had nothing to do with the drama surrounding him. His innocuous tweet has been responded to with research.
Bradley Beal Leads NBA In Most Obscure Stat One Can Find
Zach Lowe Was Curious About Bradley Beal Tying His Shoelaces
Lowe, formerly of ESPN, tweeted about Beal on Friday. It had nothing to do with the trade rumors or benching though. It instead how to do with his shoes becoming untied.
After watching several recent Phoenix Suns games, I have a very important question: Why are Bradley Beal’s shoes coming untied multiple times per game? Some working member of the media needs to investigate. He has to lead the league in in-game shoe-tying instances per 36 minutes.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) January 10, 2025
Interesting. Now as the years have gone by, there are numerous stats and analytics that are involved not just in the NBA, but all sports that weren’t kept track of in the past. The amount of in-game shoe-tying instances per 36 minutes has never been a stat that has been kept track of though.
Believe it or not, Lowe’s question was answered (somewhat). No, there isn’t an answer as to why Beal’s shoes keep coming untied. And no, we didn’t get a stat for amount of times tying shoes per 36 minutes. We got something close to that though.
About 5.5 hours after Lowe sent out that tweet, Todd Whitehead of Synergy Basketball tweeted out a response to Lowe.
Bradley Beal is leading the league in shoelace tying time this season. https://t.co/nLtosDMma9 pic.twitter.com/pLVC8GqEzJ
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) January 11, 2025
Remarkable. Whitehead tweeted afterward that he used “skeletal player-tracking data to look for instances where each player’s thumbs were near one of his ankles, which would be the case if he were tying his shoes (or adjusting his socks, I guess).” His data took the amount of seconds during live game action that a player’s thumbs were less than six inches from their ankles. As seen from his tweet, Beal has a 15-second lead over Jalen Suggs.
According to their X page, Synergy Sports provides “insights, analytics, and technology that the world’s best teams and leagues depend on.” It is truly mind-blowing that Whitehead was able to come up with data on thumbs by ankles for all NBA players close to within five hours.
Beal Has Excelled Since Coming Off Bench
While that’s an obscure, but fun stat, it won’t quiet the noise surrounding Beal until the trade deadline on February 6. The 31-year-old, while still believing he is a starter, has transitioned well into his reserve role.
In three games since coming off the bench, Beal has totaled 60 points. He has shot 26-44 from the field and 5-13 on three-point tries. He has still averaged 31.3 minutes in those outings, not a huge difference from the 33.4 that Beal averaged in his 23 starts.
The Suns next play on Saturday against the Utah Jazz. If you notice Bradley Beal tying his shoelaces, just remember, he does it more frequently than anyone in the league.
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