The Boston Celtics hired Mike Zarren in 2005 due to his strong understanding of analytics. He’s since worked his way up the corporate ladder and is now the Vice President of Basketball Operations and team counsel.

We often hear GM Brad Stevens suggest that it’s Zarren who understands all of the logistics involved in the new collective bargaining agreement and what they can and can’t do for the team. 

In an interview with Heavy’s Steve Bulpett, Zarren explains how the advanced technology has opened up an entire new feature to understanding analytics and how to make decisions with that information.

“You know, part of the problem when I showed up was we didn’t have the data that we have now. So now I can actually teach a computer to recognize a flare screen. And so when coaches talk about the effectiveness of a flare screen, you know, back then we just had the box score, and so you really couldn’t have a conversation about the stuff coaches were teaching the players using any numbers.”

Zarren continues to explain how understanding the statistics and analysis that comes from it can help the coach from a front office position like his.

“That’s been the biggest advancement the whole time I’ve been here. Now that we can track the players’ movements we can actually say what’s happening and have our analysts speak the coaches language.”

Zarren is widely recognized as the top dog certainly around Boston and throughout the league in his respective position. He’s a large part responsible for Boston’s success.

Follow us on Twitter @CelticsFiles

Follow me on Twitter @Trombino20

Follow us on Instagram @CelticsFiles