For hoops fans, few sites are doing more innovative things these days with video than the folks at Hoopism. A couple of weeks ago, it was a clickable visualization of every Slam Dunk Contest moment available on YouTube. Now, they've created a similar API-based compilation of the NBA's greatest shots, from buzzer-beaters to how'd-he-do-that? SportsCenter highlights.
The UI is fairly straightforward, as there are two options for viewing the 65 shots currently represented in the database. You can locate a play based on its court location (i.e. where the player took the shot from) or by year. Just double-click the on-court dot (or description, if searching by year) and the video starts playing in your browser window.
Here's a bit more context on how to interact with the UI:
One downside is that playback controls are not readily available, so once a clip starts playing, it runs all the way through (UPDATE: Pause functionality has now been added!), but they're all fairly short, so it never takes up too much of your time. (Still, you're probably going to spend at least a half-hour fooling around with this, so be warned.)
And if you've got more suggestions that aren't in here, drop them a note and let 'em know, because something as addictive as this only deserves to get better.
[h/t Blazersedge]
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