Geography and basketball crossover on the court at UNM

The UNM Department of Geography and Environmental Studies hosts its annual Murphy lecture, where it invites a member from another university to talk about its research in geography. This year's speaker is Dr. Kirk Goldsberry, associate director of the Center for Leadership & Ethics at UT Austin, but Goldsberry has more than just geography up his sleeve.

The lecture takea place Friday, Nov. 15 from 3 - 4 p.m. at the Kiva Lecture Hall. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend to learn about geography's role in sports and the public seminar will be followed by a reception with the speaker.

Goldsberry, a well-known sports analyst and author, is trained as a geography and cartographer. Goldberry will bring pieces of his life as a sports analyst and university professor to enlighten the community with geography and its use in the NBA.

"His background as a geographer is standard but also completely out of the normal," said Chris Duvall, a professor in the Geography Department at UNM. "When he was at Harvard he had access to this amazing data set… he has tracked the NBA players on the floor and has used it to make maps of where different things happen on the court, it's quite amazing."

Goldsberry is the author of two books, "Hoop Atlas" and "Sprawlball," both of which cover the NBA's last three decades of basketball history. His books show the "Atlas" of charting the course from Jordan to Jokic- and how effective star players are based on their court position.

The lecture will take place on Friday, Nov. 15 from 3 - 4 p.m. at the KIVA Lecture Hall. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend to learn about geography's role in sports and the public seminar will be followed by a reception with the speaker.

"My hope is that students and the community are encouraged to attend the event - whether they're drawn to geography or basketball," Duvall said.