Explaining Gravity in Basketball

With the emergence of Steph Curry as one of the dominate forces in the NBA game, the term 'gravity' has made its way to the basketball court.

Gravity in basketball terms simply refers to the pull that a certain player has over the defense, or, how closely you have to guard a player at any given time on the court.

Steph Curry has strong gravity because no matter where he is on the court, all defenders must know where he is and be close enough to him to close out and take away shots.  Great shooters such as Kyle Korver also have strong gravity off the ball.

Great drivers, like Kyrie Irving, also have strong gravity, but with the ball more so than when they are off the ball (although Kyrie is also a high level shooter).  When Kyrie has the ball in his hands, the defense has to shift towards him early enough to keep him from getting to the basket.

Great rebounders, especially on the offensive end, can also have strong gravity.  Guys like Tristan Thompson have strong gravity when shots go up because defenders have to find him and put bodies on him because he can change the game on the offensive boards.  It was documented how the Golden State Warriors even game planned on how they would block him out during the NBA finals.

Here is an article from ESPN that dives further into explaining gravity and some numbers behind it.