Eric Khoury wants you to know his first love is basketball. He played the game in high school and in university. He grew up in Toronto as a huge fan of the Raptors.
But the remarkable story of how the 33-year-old wound up being named the youngest-ever head coach of the Raptors farm team is one he gets asked about a lot. After all, in school his focus was always on math, science and engineering.
鈥淭he biggest question is: why are you in basketball?鈥� says Khoury with a smile.
The head coach of the Raptors 905, a team in the NBA鈥檚 G League, has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in aerospace engineering and a masters of applied science from the University of Toronto鈥檚 Institute for Aerospace Studies, where he studied experimental fluid dynamics. Not your typical background for someone who eventually wound up with an NBA championship ring.
鈥淚鈥檓 definitely a curious guy. So if there鈥檚 something out there, I want to understand how it works,鈥� says Khoury, who is now working on building a winning team.
A decade ago Khoury was finishing up his master鈥檚 program where he鈥檇 been tracking particles moving in a water channel when he noticed an article about how the NBA was experimenting with player tracking technology around the league.
鈥淚 saw the similarities between particle tracking and playing tracking. Obviously they are very different in terms of applications, but very similar in terms of technology.鈥�
Khoury, who long thought an engineering degree would keep a lot of doors open, decided he鈥檇 reach out to the Raptors organization via Twitter to see if he could help.
鈥淭weets turned to emails, emails turned to coffee and coffee turned to an internship,鈥� says Khoury, who was eventually named the Raptors鈥� director of analytics.
Khoury says he鈥檚 always been drawn to team sports and about five years ago began transitioning to the coaching side of things. As he got better he was named an assistant coach and even helped the Raptors win their first ever NBA championship.
His start in analytics has drawn comparisons to the hit movie 鈥楳oneyball,鈥� about how baseball鈥檚 Oakland Athletics famously turned to big data to help field a competitive team-- a movie Khoury has never actually watched.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen it. I should check it out,鈥� he says.
After being named head coach of the 905 this past summer, Khoury attended a press conference where he was asked about his engineering background and how it might apply to basketball.
He made a reference to Sir Isaac Newton and first principles, which was likely a first for a media availability with a basketball coach.
鈥淭he second that came out of my mouth I knew there was going to be a headline that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�
Khoury says analytics are becoming a focal point in many sports and teams are always trying to find an edge. He hopes others will be inspired by his story to pursue their dreams if they also love sports.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so many different paths to get into it, which is great. So if you鈥檙e someone like myself who is really focused on math and science that鈥檚 not going to close the door.鈥�
