If Bill Gates played basketball: shooting guard, rated 77

Bill Gates as a basketball player: scouting report

Bill Gates was writing software as a teenager at Lakeside School in Seattle, and he cofounded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975. A mind that sees systems that early belongs on the wing, where a shooting guard has to read the whole defense in an instant and pick the right answer. His basketball IQ is the top mark on his card by a distance, so he recognizes coverages before they form and relocates to the open spot before the defense finishes rotating.

His playmaking and shooting sit just behind, nearly level, which makes him a two guard who can run a second side pick and roll as comfortably as he can spot up. He is a serious contract bridge player, a game built on reading your partner and working out what the opponents are holding, and that translates directly into reading help defense and making the extra pass. He is also a famously voracious reader who shares book reviews every year, so expect a guard who has studied every opponent's film. His defense is steady and positional.

Athleticism is the clear weakness. He will not beat anyone off the dribble with speed or finish over length, so pair him with an explosive point guard and an athletic wing who handles the hardest defensive matchup. He moves to point guard with only a small drop, which may suit his passing even better, while small forward asks too much of him. Draft him in the middle rounds as a smart connector. Someone who set out to put a computer on every desk knows how to make a simple system work at scale, and that is what he brings to an offense.

Plays like A system guard who wins with preparation and pattern reading

Put Bill Gates in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting five and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.