The Hot Hand in Basketball: On the Misperception of Random Sequences

Details

Photo

—

Name

—

Year

1985

Sport / Domain

Basketball / psychology

Key Idea

Argues that fans and players see streaks everywhere, even when shots are basically random.

One Concrete Detail

Checked shooting records from the 1980–81 Philadelphia 76ers to test the “hot hand” belief.

My take

Great cure for shouting “he’s on fire” after two shots; makes you ask if it’s form or just coin flips.