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Explore 38,954 articles, datasets, podcasts, graphics and illustrations from fivethirtyeight.com

December 2020 graphics

84 matches

Line chart comparing career WAR by age for Charles Johnson, Iván Rodríguez, Mike Piazza, Joe Mauer, and Yadier Molina, showing Johnson fell far behind Hall of Fame-caliber catchers.

Charts 2020-12-02

Johnson couldn't stay on the Hall of Fame track

From Charles Johnson Was Damn Good Behind (And At) The Plate by Neil Paine

Line chart showing the share of all receptions caught by tight ends in Football Bowl Subdivision conference games from 2004 to 2020, dipping to 8.9% in 2009 and rising to 14.1% in 2020.

Charts 2020-12-03

Receptions by tight ends dipped but are on the rise

From Florida’s Kyle Pitts Is An NFL Tight End In A College Uniform by Jake Lourim

Line chart showing Carson Wentz's rolling QB Elo rating versus average across his career starts, illustrating a mostly declining trend over time.

Charts 2020-12-03

Wentz has been (mostly) declining for a long time

From Carson Wentz Is In Freefall, And The Eagles Are Going Down With Him by Neil Paine

A four-quadrant alignment chart ranking leadership qualities of football coaches from nine movies, with axes of lawful/chaotic and good/evil, illustrated with circular portrait photos.

Charts 2020-12-04

Which movie coach is the best?

From Who’s The Most Chaotic Movie Football Coach? by Josh Hermsmeyer

Line chart showing Trump approval and disapproval ratings from January 2017 to late 2020, with disapproval at 52.8% and approval at 43.6%.

Charts 2020-12-04

Trump Approval Rating: 43.6% Approve, 52.8% Disapprove

From Trump Was Never Very Popular, But How Will Americans View Him (And Biden) Now? by Nathaniel Rakich

Line chart showing polling averages for Georgia's regular Senate election between Ossoff and Perdue from November 9 to January 5, with Ossoff leading at 48.7% vs Perdue 47.9% as of Dec. 4.

Charts 2020-12-07

Georgia's regular Senate election

From What The Polls Say About Georgia’s Senate Runoffs by Geoffrey Skelley, Nathaniel Rakich

Line chart showing polling averages for Georgia's special Senate election between Warnock (49.2%) and Loeffler (47.0%) from November 9 to January 5, with Warnock leading by +2.2 as of Dec. 4.

Charts 2020-12-07

Georgia's special Senate election

From What The Polls Say About Georgia’s Senate Runoffs by Geoffrey Skelley, Nathaniel Rakich

Grouped bar chart comparing average points earned per match by Kristie and Sam Mewis's club teams from 2013 to 2021, showing Sam's teams consistently outperformed Kristie's.

Charts 2020-12-08

Kristie's club teams have struggled more than Sam's

From The Mewis Sisters Are Playing Soccer Together Again. This Time, It’s At The Highest Level. by Jenn Hatfield

Bubble chart showing ActBlue donations from every US state to Democratic candidates in Georgia's Senate runoffs, Nov 4–23, with California leading at $25.8 million.

Charts 2020-12-09

Democrats from every state are donating to Georgia

From Where Are Georgia’s Senate Candidates Getting All That Cash From? by Chris Zubak-Skees, Nathaniel Rakich, Julia Wolfe

Line chart showing daily donations via ActBlue or WinRed to Georgia Senate runoff candidates Ossoff, Warnock, Perdue, and Loeffler from Sept. 1 through Nov. 23, with a sharp spike after Election Day Nov. 3.

Charts 2020-12-09

Donations to Georgia skyrocketed after Election Day

From Where Are Georgia’s Senate Candidates Getting All That Cash From? by Chris Zubak-Skees, Nathaniel Rakich, Julia Wolfe

Bubble chart showing donations from Republican donors across US states to Georgia Senate runoff candidates via WinRed, Nov. 4–23, with Georgia at center and state bubbles sized by donation amount.

Charts 2020-12-09

Republicans from across the country are donating, too

From Where Are Georgia’s Senate Candidates Getting All That Cash From? by Chris Zubak-Skees, Nathaniel Rakich, Julia Wolfe

Six small line charts showing the percentage of U.S. adults who would get a COVID-19 vaccine by gender, race/ethnicity, age, education, party, and family income from May to November 2020.

Charts 2020-12-11

Growing share intend to get a COVID-19 vaccine, though fewer than half of Black adults say they would

From Why A Big Bloc of Americans Is Wary Of The COVID-19 Vaccine — Even As Experts Hope To See Widespread Immunization by Perry Bacon Jr

Line chart showing presidential approval and disapproval ratings over time from January 2017 to late 2020, with disapproval at 52.4% and approval at 43.3% on day 1,421.

Charts 2020-12-11

Presidential Approval Ratings Over Time (Day 1,421)

From Why A Big Bloc of Americans Is Wary Of The COVID-19 Vaccine — Even As Experts Hope To See Widespread Immunization by Perry Bacon Jr

Geometric diagram of hexagon ABCDEF inscribed in triangle XYE with colored regions and a table of side lengths and angles, showing the ratio 3·(Area ABCDEF)/(Area △XYE) = 0.95495.

Tables 2020-12-11

Hexagon ABCDEF in Triangle XYE with Dimensions Table

From How High Can You Count With Menorah Math? by Zach Wissner-Gross

Infographic showing all 11 Oklahoma City Thunder offseason trades through Dec. 10, 2020, listing players and picks traded away and received in each deal.

Other 2020-12-11

How the Thunder's Trades Shook Out

From The Thunder Have Been Busier This Offseason Than Any Team In NBA History by Jared Dubin

Infographic showing all 11 Oklahoma City Thunder 2020 offseason trades through Dec. 10, listing players traded away, teams traded with, and assets received for each deal.

Other 2020-12-11

How the Thunder's trades shook out

From The Thunder Have Been Busier This Offseason Than Any Team In NBA History by Jared Dubin

Line chart showing the share of kickoffs returned in Football Bowl Subdivision games from 2003 to 2020, highlighting rule changes in 2012 and 2018 that caused sharp declines.

Charts 2020-12-11

Kick returns fell dramatically, then plateaued

From Why Are We Still Returning Kicks In College Football? by Jake Lourim

Dot plot showing quarterback Elo point values for NFC East teams including Washington, Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants, with a tooltip highlighting Dwayne Haskins at 90 Elo points.

Charts 2020-12-14

NFC East QB Value in Elo Points

From The Saints And Steelers Hit A Rut At The Worst Time

Text infographic showing Super Bowl win probabilities: PIT at 5.0% (down from 10.1%) and KC at 32.9% (up from 30.6%)

Charts 2020-12-14

PIT vs KC Super Bowl Win Probabilities

From The Saints And Steelers Hit A Rut At The Worst Time

Horizontal stacked bar chart showing the share of poll respondents who said black or white people are more likely to own ten dog breeds, from FiveThirtyEight.

Charts 2020-12-15

Racial stereotypes extend even to dog ownership

From Raphael Warnock’s Dog Ads Cut Against White Voters’ Stereotypes Of Black People by Michael Tesler

Bar chart showing Iowa State Cyclones Simple Rating System scores from 1900 to 2020, highlighting seasons under head coach Matt Campbell.

Charts 2020-12-15

Success like this has been rare in Ames

From The Secret To Iowa State’s Improbable Season? Balance. by Josh Planos

Icon-based chart showing women and men holding each Cabinet office under every US president from Carter to Biden, with purple indicating female and gold indicating male appointees.

Charts 2020-12-15

Biden will start with a historic number of women in his Cabinet

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Icon-based chart showing women and men holding each cabinet office under every US president since 1977, comparing Obama, Trump, Biden, Clinton, G.W. Bush, Carter, Reagan, and G.H.W. Bush.

Charts 2020-12-15

Biden will start with a historic number of women in his cabinet

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline chart showing the tenures of Secretaries of Defense under each U.S. president from Carter through Biden, with yellow bars representing individual terms.

Charts 2020-12-15

Secretary of Defense

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline of U.S. Secretaries of Defense from 1977 to 2021, spanning presidential administrations from Carter through Biden.

Charts 2020-12-15

Secretary of Defense Timeline 1977–2021

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline of U.S. Secretaries of Labor from 1977 to 2021, highlighting female secretaries under each presidential administration.

Charts 2020-12-15

Secretary of Labor

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline of U.S. Secretaries of Labor from 1977 to 2021, highlighting female appointees in purple across Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, G.W. Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.

Other 2020-12-15

Secretary of Labor – Female Appointees Timeline

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline of US Secretaries of the Treasury from Carter through Biden administrations, highlighting Janet Yellen's appointment in 2021.

Charts 2020-12-15

Secretary of the Treasury

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline chart showing Secretaries of the Treasury by presidential administration from Carter through Biden, with Janet Yellen highlighted at 2021.

Charts 2020-12-15

Secretary of the Treasury

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline chart showing Small Business Administration Administrators by presidential term from Carter through Biden, highlighting notable female appointees in purple.

Charts 2020-12-15

Small Business Administration Administrator

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Timeline of Small Business Administration Administrators from Carter through Biden, highlighting women administrators in purple including Susan Engeleiter, Pat Saiki, Aida Alvarez, Karen Mills, Maria Contreras-Sweet, Linda McMahon, and Jovita Carranza.

Charts 2020-12-15

Small Business Administration Administrator

From Updated: A Record-Breaking Number Of Women Could Be In Biden’s Cabinet by Meredith Conroy, Anna Wiederkehr, Nathaniel Rakich

Dot plot showing suburban counties' vote margin shift from 2016, with most dots left of center indicating Biden gains, plus a callout for Henry County GA showing demographic changes.

Charts 2020-12-16

Biden's gains in the suburbs were strong because suburbs are getting more diverse and more educated

From Why The Suburbs Have Shifted Blue by Geoffrey Skelley, Elena Mejia, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, Laura Bronner

Dot plot showing suburban counties by shift in vote margin from 2016, split into groups that became more diverse but not educated versus more educated but not diverse.

Charts 2020-12-16

Diversity alone is not necessarily a good thing for Democrats

From Why The Suburbs Have Shifted Blue by Geoffrey Skelley, Elena Mejia, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, Laura Bronner

Dot plot showing suburban counties by shift in vote margin from 2016, split into counties that became more diverse but not more educated versus more educated but not more diverse.

Charts 2020-12-16

Diversity is not always good for Democrats

From Why The Suburbs Have Shifted Blue by Geoffrey Skelley, Elena Mejia, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, Laura Bronner

FiveThirtyEight chart showing how more diverse and educated suburban counties shifted toward Biden in 2020, with Henry County, GA as a case study showing demographic and education changes.

Charts 2020-12-16

More diverse, educated suburbs gave Biden big gains

From Why The Suburbs Have Shifted Blue by Geoffrey Skelley, Elena Mejia, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, Laura Bronner

Tile grid map of the US showing suburban and exurban counties by change in diversity from 2010 to 2018, with teal indicating more diverse and tan indicating less diverse.

Maps 2020-12-16

Most suburbs are far more diverse than they used to be

From Why The Suburbs Have Shifted Blue by Geoffrey Skelley, Elena Mejia, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, Laura Bronner

Cartogram map of the US showing suburban and exurban counties by change in diversity from 2010 to 2018, with teal indicating more diverse and brown indicating less diverse.

Maps 2020-12-16

Suburbs are diversifying: Suburban and exurban counties by change in diversity 2010–2018

From Why The Suburbs Have Shifted Blue by Geoffrey Skelley, Elena Mejia, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, Laura Bronner

Line chart comparing mean absolute error in Las Vegas college football betting lines by phase of week for the 2020 season versus 2015-2019 seasons.

Charts 2020-12-16

Bettors are learning a lot by midweek this year

From Losing Money Betting On College Football This Year? You’re Not Alone. by Richard Johnson

Line chart comparing how often pregame favorites covered the Las Vegas point spread in the NFL versus college football from 2003 to 2020, showing college favorites covering more in 2020 while NFL favorites are not.

Charts 2020-12-16

College favorites are covering in 2020, but pros aren't

From Losing Money Betting On College Football This Year? You’re Not Alone. by Richard Johnson

Line chart showing mean absolute error per game in Las Vegas's closing line vs actual college football results from 2002 to 2020, with 2020 reaching the highest error.

Charts 2020-12-16

The Vegas line rarely misses by as much as it has in 2020

From Losing Money Betting On College Football This Year? You’re Not Alone. by Richard Johnson

Four county-level choropleth maps for Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Carolina showing how far Biden ran ahead or behind Democratic Senate candidates in suburban areas, colored pink for Biden and teal for Senate Dem.

Maps 2020-12-17

Biden outperformed down-ballot Dems in the suburbs

From Split-Ticket Voters Are A Small Group, But They Could Decide The Georgia Runoffs by Nathaniel Rakich, Ryan Best

Choropleth map of Georgia counties showing the difference between Biden's and Ossoff's vote share relative to their statewide difference, with pink indicating Biden ran ahead and teal indicating Ossoff ran ahead.

Maps 2020-12-17

Ossoff needs to make up ground in the Georgia suburbs

From Split-Ticket Voters Are A Small Group, But They Could Decide The Georgia Runoffs by Nathaniel Rakich, Ryan Best

Line chart showing how concerned Americans say they are about the coronavirus's effect on the U.S. economy from March to December 2020, with four concern levels tracked over time.

Charts 2020-12-18

How worried are Americans about the economy?

From Americans Overwhelmingly Want Congress To Approve Another Coronavirus Stimulus Package by Nathaniel Rakich

Line chart showing Trump approval and disapproval ratings over time from January 2017 through Day 1,428, with disapproval at 52.5% and approval at 43.6%.

Charts 2020-12-18

Trump Approval Rating Over Time (Day 1,428)

From Americans Overwhelmingly Want Congress To Approve Another Coronavirus Stimulus Package by Nathaniel Rakich

Grid of 81 menorah illustrations numbered 0 through 80, each showing a different number of lit candles represented by blue flames.

Other 2020-12-18

Menorahs 0–80: Candle Lighting Combinations

From Can You (Not) Flip Your Lid? by Zach Wissner-Gross

Horizontal bar chart showing NFL placekickers' career team stints by number of seasons, with annotations for Mike Nugent and Younghoe Koo, titled 'Kickers tend to move from team to team in the NFL'.

Charts 2020-12-18

Kickers tend to move from team to team in the NFL

From How To Build A Placekicker by Marisa Ingemi

Area chart showing the number of all FBS college kickers versus those with at least 80% field-goal conversion rates from 2010 to 2020.

Charts 2020-12-18

Less than half of college kickers hit at least 80 percent

From How To Build A Placekicker by Marisa Ingemi

Small multiples bar chart showing 10 types of voting barriers experienced by respondents grouped by voting frequency: rarely/never, sometimes, and almost always vote.

Charts 2020-12-21

All types of voters report experiencing barriers

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Grouped bar chart showing types of barriers to voting reported by respondents, broken down by voting history: rarely or never vote, sometimes vote, and almost always vote.

Charts 2020-12-21

All types of voters report experiencing barriers

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Icon-strip chart showing women and men holding each US Cabinet office under every president from Carter to Biden, with purple indicating female and yellow indicating male appointees.

Charts 2020-12-21

Biden will start with a historic number of women in his Cabinet

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Dot-and-bar chart showing women and men holding each cabinet office under every US president from Carter to Biden, updated Dec. 15, highlighting Biden's historic number of women.

Charts 2020-12-21

Biden will start with a historic number of women in his cabinet

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Dot plot comparing national polling averages for Democratic and Republican presidential nominees four months before Election Day from 1968 to 2020, highlighting Biden's +9.6 lead.

Charts 2020-12-21

Biden's lead over Trump really is large

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Choropleth map showing COVID-19 testing site demand by census block group in the western US, highlighting high demand in South Texas and California.

Maps 2020-12-21

Demand at COVID-19 testing sites depends on the community you live in

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Choropleth map of the US showing average potential patient demand at COVID-19 testing sites by census block group, highlighting high demand in California and South Texas.

Maps 2020-12-21

Demand at COVID-19 testing sites depends on the community you live in

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

FiveThirtyEight infographic explaining how equal use-of-force rates among stopped people can obscure racial bias in policing, using icon grids and two scenarios.

Tables 2020-12-21

How numbers that appear equitable can obscure bias

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Illustrated infographic explaining how equal stop rates can obscure racial bias in police use of force, using two scenarios with icon grids and statistics.

Tables 2020-12-21

How numbers that appear equitable can obscure bias

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Small multiples chart showing timeline of Biden vs Trump vote tallies for each US state from 90 minutes to 72 hours after polls closed in the 2020 election.

Charts 2020-12-21

How some states' slow count affected their vote tallies

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Small multiples chart showing timeline of Biden vs Trump vote tallies for each US state after polls closed, illustrating how slow counts shifted results.

Charts 2020-12-21

How some states' slow count affected their vote tallies

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Small multiples line charts for all 50 US states showing the share of population staying home before and after stay-at-home orders were issued in 2020, compared to 2019 baselines.

Charts 2020-12-21

In every state, people started staying at home before stay-at-home orders

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Small multiples line chart showing the share of each US state's population staying at home before and after stay-at-home orders were issued, as a seven-day moving average compared to 2019 weekdays.

Charts 2020-12-21

In every state, people started staying at home before stay-at-home orders were issued

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Tile grid map of US states color-coded by whether they ban, proposed a ban, blocked a ban, or have no policy on Native American tribal mascots.

Maps 2020-12-21

Most states allow tribal mascots

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Tile grid map of US states color-coded by whether they ban, propose to ban, block bans, or have no policy on Native American mascots, nicknames, or logos.

Charts 2020-12-21

Most states still allow the use of Native American mascots

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Bubble map of US states sized by projected 2021 House seats, colored by party control of redistricting after the 2020 election, showing Republicans controlling 188 seats.

Maps 2020-12-21

Republicans won almost all races key to redistricting

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Grid of waffle-style charts showing Bernie Sanders's vote share by age group and ideology in Nevada, New Hampshire, and Iowa, based on entrance or exit polls.

Charts 2020-12-21

Sanders voters are young and liberal, but mainly young

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Dot plot showing estimated unemployment benefit replacement rates for 10 occupations, comparing values without and with the CARES Act, where food service workers see the highest replacement rate near 190%.

Charts 2020-12-21

Some workers are making more on unemployment

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Line chart comparing Black and White American unemployment rates from January 2007 through August 2020, showing Black unemployment peaked at 16.8% in 2020.

Charts 2020-12-21

The Black unemployment rate remains very high

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Bubble chart classifying NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB animal mascots by type into Land, Sea, Sky, and Make Believe categories with mascot face images.

Other 2020-12-21

The Mascot Animal Kingdom

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Bubble diagram classifying NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB animal mascots into Land, Sea, Sky, and Make Believe categories with subcategories like Mammal, Reptile, Avian, and Monster.

Other 2020-12-21

The Mascot Animal Kingdom

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Stacked area chart showing the share of current NFL head coaches doing each job in the coaching pipeline at each age from 21 to 60, illustrating the staggered path to top coaching roles.

Charts 2020-12-21

The staggered path to coaching at the top

From The 40 Weirdest (And Best) Charts We Made In This Long, Strange Year by Ryan Best, Elena Mejia, Jasmine Mithani, Anna Wiederkehr, Julia Wolfe, Yutong Yuan

Radar chart showing LeBron James's 2008-09 season stats across five dimensions: Points/100 possessions, Defense, Assist percentage, Rebounding percentage, and 3-point shooting.

Charts 2020-12-22

2008-09 LeBron James Radar Chart

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Radar chart showing LeBron James's 2012-13 season performance across five categories: Points/100 possessions, Defense, Assist percentage, Rebounding percentage, and 3-point shooting.

Charts 2020-12-22

2012-13 LeBron James Performance Radar Chart

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Radar chart showing LeBron James's 2019-20 NBA stats across five dimensions, highlighting his career-best 49.1% assist percentage.

Charts 2020-12-22

2019-20 LeBron James Stats Radar Chart

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Four radar charts showing LeBron James's performance in points, defense, assists, rebounding, and 3-point shooting compared to the best player in each category from 2003 to 2020.

Charts 2020-12-22

LeBron James's Performance Across Key Seasons (2003–2020)

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Radar chart showing LeBron James's 2003-04 performance across five categories compared to the best player in each category from 2003-20.

Charts 2020-12-22

LeBron James's performance in 2003-04

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Shot charts showing LeBron James's 3-point percentage vs. league average from three seasons (2003-04, 2012-13, 2017-18) with color-coded dots along the arc.

Charts 2020-12-22

LeBron finds his sweet spots beyond the arc

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Three basketball court diagrams showing LeBron James's 3-point shooting percentage vs. league average by court zone for the 2003-04, 2012-13, and 2017-18 seasons, colored from purple (below average) to gold (above average).

Charts 2020-12-22

LeBron finds his sweet spots beyond the arc

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Bump chart showing combined WAR and MVP rankings by season for LeBron James and selected NBA competitors from 2005 to 2020, illustrating LeBron's sustained dominance near the top.

Charts 2020-12-22

LeBron's reign near the top has been unbelievably durable

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Line chart showing combined WAR and MVP rankings by season for LeBron James and selected NBA competitors from 2005 to 2020, with LeBron consistently near the top.

Charts 2020-12-22

LeBron's reign near the top has been unbelievably durable

From What Makes LeBron James The GOAT by Chris Herring, Neil Paine, Anna Wiederkehr

Line chart showing wins above replacement projection from 2018 to 2027 for an MVP candidate with a 5-year market value of $333.8M, including confidence intervals.

Charts 2020-12-23

Wins above replacement projection — MVP Candidate

From It’s Hard Not To Believe In Luka Dončić by Dorothy J. Gentry

Line chart showing Defenders in the Box Over Expected (DBOE) for NFL regular season plays from 2008 to 2020, declining from positive values to negative before rising again.

Charts 2020-12-24

Until recently, teams used fewer defenders in the box

From Are Defensive Play-Callers Consistent Enough To Be Exploitable? by Josh Hermsmeyer

Line chart showing win probability over time for a game between MIA and LV, with values ranging from 0 to 100 and a sharp spike near the end.

Charts 2020-12-28

MIA vs LV Win Probability Chart

From It’s Almost Over, But There’s Still So Much Left

Line chart showing average percentile ranking in preseason title odds for major sports champions by year from 2000 to 2020, peaking near 95th percentile in 2020.

Charts 2020-12-29

2020's champions were unusually chalky

From Everything About Sports In 2020 Was Weird … Except Who Won by Neil Paine

Line chart showing Nebraska's average congressional ideology scores shifting rightward from 1990 to 2020, with a dramatic jump after the 1994 House elections.

Charts 2020-12-30

Nebraska's rightward shift

From What Democrats Can Learn From Nebraska’s Shift To The Right by Ross Benes

Line chart showing Trump's weighted approval and disapproval ratings among likely or registered voters from October 1 to December 29, 2020, with no lame-duck approval bump after the November 3 election.

Charts 2020-12-30

Trump's not seeing the usual lame-duck approval bump

From Why A Split Verdict In Georgia Isn’t That Crazy by Nate Silver