Why stats during clutch time matter less than what the media wants you to believe

Statistician here, and I just wanted to chime in on this topic. First of all, I get that talking about who was more clutch is going to get a lot of debate, and that's why people like to talk about it. It's fun to argue whether Kobe was more clutch than Lebron, or if Lebron was more clutch than Jordan.However, people usually like to put up numbers, like so-and-so player was 6/12 in the last 5 mins of a game on avg.The problem is, none of these stats have the same control sample. Players weren't playing against the same opponents, in the same arena, with the same teammates, with the same score, with the same coach, with the same... you get the point.Here is a clip where using the stats logic puts Rudy Gay as the most clutch player of all time, and Kobe is 6th:https://youtu.be/nGk8Mqt26iYSo you can't use stats because you don't have a control sample. The best way we have to determine who is the most clutch is using a tool to determine lots of variables at once that has been refined over 200,000 years- your guy.Your gut feeling takes all the variables in your environment and makes a quick decision, which is used to determine if you are in danger- helps for survival. But you can use your gut to determine who's clutch.Everyone's gut probably going to be different. But I'm giving the ball to Kobe. via /r/nba http://ift.tt/2rdTOpT