Strike While the Hand is Hot
You might not think that a simulation meant for kids could change how something plays out in real life, but in the 1990s, the arcade game NBA Jam did exactly that. One feature of the game allowed players to be \u201con fire.\u201d The more a player scored, the higher chance he or she had of scoring again.
\n\nFast forward to today and you can\u2019t escape the concept of a hot streak, or a \u201chot hand\u201d' as it\u2019s called in basketball. Athletes swear by it, even refusing to touch another player\u2019s \u201chot\u201d hand. But is a hot streak as real as some people believe it to be?
\n\nBen Cohen, a sports writer for The Wall Street Journal and author of \u201cThe Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks,\u201d argues that the idea of a hot hand is very real \u2014 and it isn\u2019t exclusive to basketball either.