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Thief! Thief! He took my rock!

                       bandits_1 bandits_2 bandits_3 bandits_4

                                     bandits_5 bandits_6 bandits_7

(Click individual images to enlarge)

Answer is a thematic word.


Text transcript of the posters (for copy/paste purposes)

Brooks Bryce, 24
143 counts of petty theft
Last known location: BOS
REWARD: $13,660,716

Cam Barlow, 31
98 counts of petty theft
Last known location: UTA
REWARD: $27,045,455

Robin Fernandez, 27
80 counts of petty theft
Last known location: MIL
REWARD: $22,000,000

Tony Ferguson, 26
71 counts of petty theft
Last known location: ORL
REWARD: $37,000,000

Clarence Hayes, 30
123 counts of petty theft
Last known location: IND
REWARD: $14,764,045

Russ Lowe, 23
64 counts of petty theft
Last known location: LAL
REWARD: $20,655,160

George Raymond, 28
88 counts of petty theft
Last known location: POR
REWARD: $31,977,689
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2
  • $\begingroup$ Helpful information for solvers: rot13(Gur 7 crbcyr cvpgherq ner AON cynlref: Znephf Fzneg, Wbr Vatyrf, Xuevf Zvqqyrgba, Rina Sbheavre, Gunqqrhf Lbhat, Wbfu Uneg, Qnzvna Yvyyneq. Gur pbhagf bs crggl gursg ner gurve fgrny gbgnyf va gur 2018-2019 frnfba, naq V oryvrir gurve ntrf ner pbeerpg sbe gung frnfba nf jryy, nybat jvgu gurve grnz pvgl. Gur erjneq nzbhagf ner abg gurve fnynevrf, fb gung vf fgvyy na haxabja.) $\endgroup$
    – JS1
    Dec 4, 2019 at 0:51
  • $\begingroup$ @JS1 - another related (and possibly coincidental) observation: rot13(gur anzrf lbh yvfg unir gur fnzr yrggre pbhagf nf gurve chmmyr nyvnfrf, jvgu rknpgyl bar pbeerfcbaqvat yrggre cre crefba: F Y V S N F Q) $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Dec 4, 2019 at 4:14

1 Answer 1

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The thematic word is:

BANDITS

Because:

The portraits are of NBA players whose:

1. Names are the same lengths as the fake names
2. Teams in 2018-2019 were the same city as the last known location
3. Steals in 2018-2019 were the same number as the petty theft counts
4. Ages in 2018-2019 matched the ages listed
5. Have one letter in common between the fake name and the real name. (From Alconja)

They are: Marcus Smart, Joe Ingles, Khris Middleton, Evan Fournier, Thaddeus Young, Josh Hart, and Damian Lillard.

Now, if you look up the salaries of these players from the 2018-2019 season, and compare to the rewards offered, the rewards are even multiples of million dollars higher than the salaries, by these amounts (in millions):

2, 14, 9, 20, 1, 19, 4

Which correspond to the letters: BNITASD. If you arrange these letters from the person with the highest petty theft count to the least (the order being 1527346), the letters spell out "BANDITS".

Other clue I missed: If you take the letters in common between the fake names and the real names: SLIFASD, and arrange them the same way as the before, you get SALDIFS, which points to the salary differences being significant.

By the way, the site I used to look up all the stats and salaries was basketball-reference.com.

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3
  • $\begingroup$ @PiIsNot3 I fixed up the answer after figuring out what yoh meant. $\endgroup$
    – JS1
    Dec 4, 2019 at 8:42
  • $\begingroup$ @PiIsNot3 Oh, I finally figured out what that word meant! $\endgroup$
    – JS1
    Dec 4, 2019 at 16:21
  • $\begingroup$ All good now, congrats! $\endgroup$
    – HTM
    Dec 4, 2019 at 19:08

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