With the NBA game shifting more and more to the perimeter, there has been concern from many that the days of traditional big men are numbered.
The Golden State Warriors are certainly the poster child for this trend, having recently shattered the record for three pointers made in a single season with 1,077. The previous record, held by the Houston Rockets, stood for just one year.
While the Warriors get the attention for taking the outside game to a new level, the transition to a more perimeter-based game has been happening for awhile. Of the top 100 team three-point shooting seasons of all time, 95 have come since 2000 and 69 since the 2010 season began.
However, Hakeem Olajuwon, a Hall of Fame center in his playing days, believes the phasing out of big men is far from imminent. In a piece for The Player's Tribune, the former Rockets star said “small ball” simply allows traditional post players to be more versatile.
But if you only look at sharp shooters like Steph and Klay, you miss what’s going on. Those guys are special, but they’re not the norm. Small ball has made stars out of of traditional guards, but in my mind the biggest thing it has done is to liberate big men from their traditional duties. They’re no longer stuck in the paint.
As Olajuwon points out, there's no need to look any further than the Warriors roster for evidence of this. Forward Draymond Green is one of the most dominant big men in the game, but does his work from all over the court, not just in the low post. During the regular season, he averaged 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game, while shooting 38.5 percent from three.
Green is hardly the exception. There are more power forwards and centers than ever before who can shoot from all over the floor as well as pass and handle the ball like a guard, from Anthony Davis to Kevin Love to DeMarcus Cousins. The NBA may be trending more toward the three-point game, but it has hardly signaled the death of big men.
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