Box scores tell you how much. They never tell you where. Statangle’s corpus holds every field-goal attempt in both leagues since 1997, which is 7.2 million shots with coordinates, and the first thing we did was look up the two best scorers alive.
A’ja Wilson: the paint is home
Wilson’s 2026 diet is interior dominance with a modern garnish. More than seven of every ten attempts came inside 14 feet, and the 117 shots at the rim went in at a 78.6% clip. The three-ball is no longer a rumor either (56 attempts at 44.6%), but the hex grid says what the scouting report says: guard the paint, and good luck.
| Zone | FGA | FGM | FG% | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the rim (0–4 ft) | 117 | 92 | 78.6% | 27.9% |
| Paint (4–14 ft) | 188 | 82 | 43.6% | 44.8% |
| Midrange 2s (14+ ft) | 59 | 25 | 42.4% | 14.0% |
| Threes | 56 | 25 | 44.6% | 13.3% |
Methodology
Every regular-season field-goal attempt (420 shots, 53.3% made), hex-binned on a half court — larger hexes mean more attempts from that spot. Totals are cross-checked against the box-score corpus before publishing.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: the forbidden zone
SGA’s chart is a museum piece. The league spent a decade abandoning the midrange as bad math, and he took 220 midrange twos this season and made 55.5% of them, which is better math than most players’ rim rate. Add 390 rim attempts at 69.2% and you get 55.3% from the field on the second-highest shot volume in basketball.
| Zone | FGA | FGM | FG% | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the rim (0–4 ft) | 390 | 270 | 69.2% | 29.5% |
| Paint (4–14 ft) | 413 | 224 | 54.2% | 31.3% |
| Midrange 2s (14+ ft) | 220 | 122 | 55.5% | 16.7% |
| Threes | 298 | 115 | 38.6% | 22.6% |
Methodology
Every regular-season field-goal attempt (1321 shots, 55.3% made), hex-binned on a half court — larger hexes mean more attempts from that spot. Totals are cross-checked against the box-score corpus before publishing.
The fine print
Hex size is attempt frequency from that spot. The court outlines are drawn to each league’s real geometry: the WNBA’s uniform 22.15-foot arc, the NBA’s 23.75-foot arc with 22-foot corners. Every chart’s totals are cross-checked against the box-score corpus before publishing; the shot file and the box scores are independent datasets, and they agree to the attempt. Regular season only. SGA’s chart covers his complete 2025-26 season. Wilson’s covers 2026 through July 22: our shot-location source froze mid-season, and we’d rather show you a verified partial season than an unverified full one. The chart updates the day the source does.