@WSJ columnist // read my book THE HOT HAND // ben.cohen@wsj.com
New York, NY
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- Followers 13,273
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I profiled Tim Cook. I also informed the CEO of Apple that people name their group chats.
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Simone Biles wins individual all-around gold by insane 2.1 points. That's bigger than the margin of victory from 1980 to 2012—combined.
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"He has a great sense of American culture," a Kristaps Porzingis teammate told me. "He goes on WorldStarHipHop every day."
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Golden State Warriors since 2014-15:
- Stephen Curry on: +4,152
- Stephen Curry off: -1,003
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I interviewed Dr. Fauci yesterday. My last question was if he remembered this 1958 basketball game. His response was incredible.
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"A brutal sports loss—but one that may have saved lives." @andrewlbeaton and I asked public health experts: Was the 49ers blowing their Super Bowl parade the best thing that could've happened to the Bay Area? wsj.com/articles/the-49ers-l…
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There are 1.4 billion people in China who haven't seen basketball in a year and now believe the best player in the NBA is Duncan Robinson.
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She's obsessed with the Oklahoma City Thunder. She's also a suburban mom in Japan. I went to an NBA bar in Tokyo and watched the Thunder with the Picasso making the best art on the Internet: wsj.com/articles/the-oklahom…
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"He is the main reason why I want to live." wsj.com/articles/yuzuru-hany…
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A few years ago I heard something that amazed me: The NBA keeps 50,000 tapes stashed in a nuclear bunker under a mountain in New Jersey.
Last week I went to the nuclear bunker.
New @WSJ story: wsj.com/articles/nba-video-r…
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LeBron James and Alex Caruso wasn't simply the NBA's best combination this season. LeBron was better with Caruso than anyone in his entire career.
New @WSJ story: wsj.com/articles/alex-caruso…
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The Golden State Warriors love this play. Here's the story of how they stole it—and who they stole it from. wsj.com/articles/the-secret-…
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This whole story is still crazy to me. Nanae Yamano is doing laundry one day in the Tokyo suburbs when a Thunder game happens to be on TV. She knows nothing about basketball, and yet she can't stop watching. She's mesmerized by Russell Westbrook. wsj.com/articles/the-oklahom…
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There were three players in the NBA last year who shot >43% on 4.5+ catch-and-shoot threes: 1. Stephen Curry, 2. Klay Thompson, 3. Swaggy P.
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Klay Thompson recently met Magnus Carlsen. He introduced himself as the No. 1 chess player on the Warriors. “Based on loose facts,” he said, “but whatever.”
Everything you never knew you needed to know about Klay’s extremely Klay chess game:
wsj.com/articles/klay-thomps…
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Kevin Durant on:
- The Warriors ("I started to realize I’m just different from the rest of the guys")
- The Thunder ("I don't trust nobody there")
- The NBA ("Some days I hate the NBA")
wsj.com/articles/kevin-duran…
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"My professional father, my mentor, my closest friend." Anthony Fauci owes his remarkable career to one person. Here is America's doctor on the man who hired him and changed his life: wsj.com/articles/the-mentor-…
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"I never spoke to Kobe outside the arena—ever. I didn’t have a relationship with him. But I knew him intimately."
Shane Battier remembers Kobe Bryant: wsj.com/articles/kobe-bryant…
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Here’s a free link to the full story, now on the cover of the @WSJMag Innovators issue: wsj.com/style/tim-cook-inter…
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Derrick White is one of the NBA's wildest stories. He was unrecruited. He played D-2 college basketball without a scholarship. He paid his student debt with his first contract. And the Celtics have been unstoppable since trading for him. wsj.com/articles/derrick-whi…
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The Raptors made a trade with the Spurs and got the player with the No. 1 plus-minus in the NBA. They also got Kawhi Leonard.
New story on Danny Green, the league's most valuable role player, and why good things happen when he's on the court:
wsj.com/articles/danny-green…
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"This wasn’t primarily a bot swarm. It was a troll mob."
We analyzed the nearly 170,000 tweets that besieged Daryl Morey last week. It appears he was the target of a pro-China disinformation campaign. New @WSJ story with @georgia_wells and @mcgint:
wsj.com/articles/how-one-twe…
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NBA teams couldn't stop Wilt and Shaq, so they fouled them. That doesn't work on Joel Embiid. wsj.com/articles/joel-embiid…
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A short kid named Fauch was the captain of his 1958 high-school basketball team. Now he's America's point guard.
I talked to Dr. Anthony Fauci's teammates about the biggest game of his life: wsj.com/articles/dr-fauci-wa…
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Trae Young: the most electrifying player in college basketball and the first player of The Curry Generation. He was exactly the right age to be profoundly influenced by the NBA's transformational figure. wsj.com/articles/trae-young-…
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Fred VanVleet made the most difficult, counterintuitive decision of his life on draft night: He told teams *not* to pick him. It paid off. An undrafted player is about to make crazy money in NBA free agency. wsj.com/articles/fred-vanvle…
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The single most popular show on Netflix is a TV sitcom that ended six years ago. It turns out The Office accounted for 52 BILLION MINUTES of viewing last year. This is wild: wsj.com/articles/netflix-bat…
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"What the hell am I doing here? I'm freezing my ass off." The shirtless Tongan flag-bearer learned how to ski last year. Now he's one race away from Pyeongchang. wsj.com/articles/remember-th…
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The NBA has reached a deal with Twitch to stream G League games. Is there a better way to watch basketball? Maybe. And the NBA wants to find out. wsj.com/articles/nba-wants-t…
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1997: Sonics trade for a 2nd-round pick in 1998
2019: That one 2nd-round pick is now two players and potentially seven 1st-round picks for the Thunder
Here's the story of everything in between. It might be the most fascinating trade in NBA history. wsj.com/articles/thunder-cli…
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The Warriors are +4131 with Stephen Curry on the court over the last five years. They are -447 with Stephen Curry on the bench. That is nuts. wsj.com/articles/stephen-cur…
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His name is Curry. He was still misvalued by the NBA. And now he's the league's most accurate 3-point shooter. Seth Curry has quietly become a star role player. wsj.com/articles/seth-curry-…
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Stephen Curry didn't have a basketball hoop at home, and the world's greatest shooter went 16 days without shooting before his wife bought one. It only took Steph five hours to build. The next step: a 3-point line. "That's this week's project," he told me. wsj.com/articles/stephen-cur…
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The NBA suddenly has a crisis on its hands. China is suspending ties with the Houston Rockets because of a tweet, and nobody knows what’s going to happen next. wsj.com/articles/the-nba-fee…
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New story: Klay Thompson plays chess every day. Yes, that Klay Thompson. wsj.com/articles/klay-thomps…
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The Nets traded a 2027 pick for James Harden. Which means James Harden was traded for a sixth grader. I wrote about a sixth grader. wsj.com/articles/james-harde…
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Carli Lloyd has signed a four-year, $80 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to league sources.
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He hated the NBA. The NBA's best players loved him.
I spoke with Vassilis Spanoulis about Luka, Giannis and how someone who lasted one NBA season inspired the future of the league: wsj.com/articles/vassilis-sp…
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James Harden has taken more stepback 3s this season than any *team* in the NBA. He's also shooting better on stepback 3s than open 3s. I can't decide which is more insane. wsj.com/articles/james-harde…
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The Warriors just ran Cyclone in the NBA Finals. Here's the story of how Steve Kerr unwittingly stole this unstoppable play from a coach in Montana. wsj.com/articles/the-secret-…
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He bought $175k worth of NBA highlights. They’re now valued at $20 million. Meet the Top Shot whales: wsj.com/articles/nba-top-sho…
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"We would recommend that there not be large crowds," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most respected public health official in the United States. "If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it."
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I have a new job! I’m starting a @WSJ column about success and failure. Here’s the official announcement.
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The shirtless Tongan flag-bearer is back—and no longer shirtless. He wants to be in subfreezing Pyeongchang... as a skier. For real. The wild story of the world's unlikeliest Winter Olympian: wsj.com/articles/remember-th…
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A guy in North Carolina has been recording this bridge for years. Here's why: on.wsj.com/1TDkSHJ nitter.app/bzcohen/status/6847426…
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The NBA off-season now gets as much attention as the NBA regular season—and Twitter has some data to prove it. on.wsj.com/2u2Dgnk
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I talked to Dr. Fauci about that first pitch.
"I completely destroyed my arm!" he says.
He threw for the first time in decades. He woke up sore. "And you saw what happened." wsj.com/articles/dr-anthony-…
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And here is Curry's plus/minus next to peak LeBron, Kobe, Shaq and Dirk's. He's still in his own stratosphere. This really is one of the greatest runs in the history of the game.
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The coach of a Division II team was stunned when two of the NBA's brightest minds called to pick his brain.
Erik Spoelstra and Brad Stevens.
You might not know the winningest coach in men's college basketball, but the Heat and Celtics do: wsj.com/articles/celtics-hea…
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There has never been a player like James Harden, and he's doing things that have never been done on a basketball court. He's the outlier of the NBA. These charts explain why. wsj.com/articles/james-harde…
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The Luka Assist is now my favorite play in the NBA. wsj.com/articles/luka-doncic…
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There is something odd happening to the best coaches in sports: They are becoming Ted Lasso. wsj.com/articles/ted-lasso-n…
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The Jalen Generation is all grown up—and it's overtaking college basketball. wsj.com/articles/its-not-you…
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The best quote of the Finals was Klay being asked before Game 4 if he was going to summon the power of Game 6 Klay. "My man," he said, "I don't even know what I'm going to do for dinner tonight."
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Every player on the very first basketball team of LeBron James's life went home after the season with his (or her) own MVP trophy. It's something that LeBron has never forgotten. wsj.com/articles/why-lebron-…
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There are few people on earth who understand what makes Brad Stevens so valuable better than his Butler players from 2011. I asked them to explain how the Celtics keep winning: wsj.com/articles/brad-steven…
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Mike Conley has never received a technical foul. In his entire life. wsj.com/articles/mike-conley…
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Every team in the NBA has a 3-point line. But that wasn't enough for the Philadelphia 76ers. Which is why the Sixers also have a 4-point line. That's right: a 4-point line. wsj.com/articles/philadelphi…
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BREAKING: The shirtless Tongan flag-bearer has officially qualified for the Winter Olympics. Here's the story of Pita Taufatofua's mad dash across Europe that won him the unlikeliest spot in Pyeongchang. wsj.com/articles/shirtless-t…
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She watched Alabama, listened to Finebaum and loved Bear Bryant.
Harper Lee didn’t just write a great American novel. She also wrote about college football.
wsj.com/articles/harper-lee-…
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At the end of our interview, I asked Seth Curry if there was anything he wanted to add. He said yes—and then spoke about Dell Curry. I loved this quote.
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Yes, I am very psyched to see THE HOT HAND in LeBron's pile of books. No, I will not be mad if he reads 50 Cent first.
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Max Deutsch thought he could beat Magnus Carlsen. We all went to Germany to find out if he was right. Here's the story of the extreme learner who challenged the world's greatest chess player. on.wsj.com/2AWtsOW
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The Golden State Warriors are getting more value from the mid-range than any NBA team in 20 years. That's right: the mid-range. They have quietly made a bad shot good. wsj.com/articles/the-mid-ran…
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Nanae usually watches the Thunder on her iPad. This is what happened when she watched the Thunder from Adam Silver's seats. wsj.com/articles/nanae-yaman…
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Stephen Curry was incredible when Davidson went to Oklahoma in 2008. In the crowd that night: Durant, Westbrook and a 10-year-old boy named Trae Young. wsj.com/articles/trae-young-…
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The complete list of NBA players who shot at least 44% on 8+ 3s per game in a season:
1. Stephen Curry, 2015 (MVP)
2. Stephen Curry, 2016 (MVP)
3. Duncan Robinson, 2020
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The average win between 1972 and 2012—including Nadia, Mary Lou, Gabby, etc.—was 0.208 points. Simone won by 2.1. She's the GOAT.
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Luka Doncic was only 16 when he began traveling halfway across the world to study his biomechanics. Four years later, he's the best young player in the NBA.
How the data generation is changing sports one Luka at a time:
wsj.com/articles/luka-doncic…
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Hoka sales in 2012: $3 million
Hoka sales in 2023: $1.4 billion
New in @WSJ: I wrote about Hoka's counterintuitive strategy for taking over America. wsj.com/articles/hoka-shoes-…
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I’ve been waiting a few years to write this: THE HOT HAND is out today! amazon.com/Hot-Hand-Mystery-…
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How is Jayson Tatum this good already? Because he grew up with YouTube. There was never a time in his life that he couldn't watch any clip of any player any time he wanted. And it's why the best NBA players are getting better younger. wsj.com/articles/jayson-tatu…
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Auburn's faculty ended the football team's most popular major. Then the athletic department intervened. on.wsj.com/1K4UyFL
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Today is our beloved @WSJSports illustrator @mikesudal's last day here. I love his NBA art.
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“These ATOs are no better than anyone else’s,” Brad Stevens said. “I steal from everyone else. I really do.”
LOL OK
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I wrote a book! It’s called THE HOT HAND. It comes out in March, and it’s on sale now. amazon.com/gp/product/006282…
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This is very exciting news: The Wall Street Journal's sports section is hiring in a big way.
We have 5 new reporting and editing jobs, and every single one sounds fantastic. So come work at @WSJSports! Even if it means you have to deal with @jasongay.
wsj.jobs/jobs/?location=New+…
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These newlyweds from Japan are hitting 13 games in 13 nights in 13 cities. Meet the NBA honeymooners: wsj.com/articles/the-nba-hon…
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Patrick Mahomes was better at basketball than football. Really. "Basketball was his best sport," his dad says. @andrewlbeaton and I asked everyone about his legendary game: wsj.com/articles/patrick-mah…
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The MVP of the NBA might very well be the league's worst 3-point shooter. But it doesn't matter because Giannis Antetokounmpo has weaponized the only shot worth more than an open 3. He's the Steph of slam dunks. wsj.com/articles/giannis-ant…
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James Harden's stepback three is a revolutionary shot. And he's somehow taken more stepback 3-pointers this year than any team in the NBA. "He's a step ahead of the game," Mike D'Antoni says. wsj.com/articles/james-harde…
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2007: P.J. Tucker literally can't play in the NBA. 2017: P.J. Tucker is one of the NBA's most useful players. How? wsj.com/articles/how-a-one-t…
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But she doesn't get to meet her muse. Instead she waits until his trip this week to Tokyo. That's where Nanae Yamano finally introduces herself to Russell Westbrook. He's wearing a jersey with his motto that perfectly describes this entire series of absurd events: “WHY NOT?"
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OK so @andrewlbeaton and I watched every game that Tony Romo called this season—more than 2,500 plays over nearly 50 hours—to calculate how often his pre-snap predictions are right. "You're kidding me," Romo said. I wish.
Here's what we found:
wsj.com/articles/tony-romo-p…
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Marc Gasol had a productive summer. He spent the NBA off-season growing fruits and vegetables in his garden. wsj.com/articles/marc-gasol-…
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I didn't think I would ever see a player as electric as Steph Curry in 2016. And then I saw Steph Curry this season. wsj.com/articles/stephen-cur…
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"It was because of my size. And because of my good-looking."
Boban Marjanovic is a 7-foot-3 assassin in the new John Wick movie. I talked to Boban, the geniuses who cast him and the Keanu stunt double who fought him. They were absolutely hilarious.
wsj.com/articles/boban-marja…
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Steve Javie always thought he would retire somewhere warm after his long career as one of the NBA’s top referees. Instead he enrolled in a Catholic seminary. wsj.com/articles/he-was-the-…
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Not one NBA team wanted Hassan Whiteside four years ago. And in the next four years, he'll make more than Michael Jordan made in his career.
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