Dr. Michael Conklin (Texas A&M University–Central Texas) presented Athletic Performance and State Tax Rates: Why NBA Players Perform Worse in High-Tax States at Pepperdine on September 22, 2025, as part of its Tax Policy Workshop Series:

In 2023, novel research found that National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball players performed better when playing away games in no-tax states compared to high-tax states. Despite the statistically significant findings well within the 0.05 p-value, some critics asserted that this had to be nothing more than a coincidence. This Article adds the results from the 2023–24 season and applies the same methodology. This produced the same results, thus further strengthening the conclusion that state tax rates affect athletic performance. This updated Article analyses how this finding is consistent with existing literature on sports psychology and also considers the role race likely plays in the refusal of some to accept the results.

This novel finding has far-reaching implications as it provides strong, empirical support for numerous topics that were previously only discussed theoretically. This study will hopefully serve as a powerful catalyst to spark future research into related fields such as the far-reaching implications of tax policy, the significance of sports psychology, and the importance of team cohesion. Furthermore, the principles illustrated in this study are likely applicable to the corporate world as well. Therefore, this study will hopefully spark future research into how mental states in general and state tax rates specifically might affect workplace performance, including collegiality, discriminatory behaviors, risk adverseness, and ethical corporate conduct. These issues are of increased importance in modern corporate America, where the ability of workers to telecommute is rapidly increasing.