NBA Reddit Flight Tracking

A story about how Reddit users tracked NBA free agent Kawhi Leonard's movements by following private jet flights.

"This became a big deal every year for NBA free agency. When Kawhi Leonard became a free agent after winning the Finals MVP, nobody knew where he was going to sign. All the reporters were trying to work their sources, but those sources were just teams leaking information that made them look good and agents negotiating in public.

Reddit actually solved the case. They said 'Hey, we can just track Kawhi's jet.' They knew which owners and which teams were going to pitch him. They'd see things like 'a flight from Miami to Toronto just left' - that's the Miami Heat owner's jet going to make their pitch. When they got a second meeting, that meant they were doing better than the Knicks who didn't get a second meeting.

Someone was letting Kawhi use their jet - it wasn't actually his jet, but they knew which billionaire's jet it was. Once a jet is tagged in their system, you can't shake that. Through this tracking, Reddit knew before the professional journalists that he was going to sign with the Clippers - and sure enough, he did."