SPRING 2025
Defensive Motor Index (DMI): A New Metric for Evaluating Defensive Effort and Impact in the NBA
AUTHOR
Pratik Gurijala, Liberal Arts and Science Academy ’27
ABSTRACT
Defense in basketball is often difficult to quantify due to its reliance on effort, positioning, and hustle plays that do not always appear in traditional stat sheets. This paper introduces a novel metric, Defensive Motor Index (DMI), designed to evaluate a player’s defensive effort and impact beyond basic statistics. DMI integrates hustle statistics such as deflections, loose ball recoveries, contested shots, and defensive transition effectiveness. By applying DMI to NBA player data, this study highlights undervalued defensive contributors and provides teams with a better tool for assessing defensive performance.
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