The three-point line was implemented in the NBA less than 40 years ago, and while it's utilization increased more and more in the following years, only recently has it spiked to historic levels.
More three's are being fired up than ever before, and it's not even close. Over 24 treys were attempted by NBA teams per game this season. That's more than 48 combined each night; insane.
With perimeter play dominating the league, some people have pondered if a 4-point line is the next innovation that should come into the game of basketball.
Resistance to such a change is strong among purists, but Hall of Fame sharp shooter Larry Bird thinks it should at least be considered.
He recently talked to the New Yorker's Charles Bethea about how much the game has changed.
“We didn’t gravitate to the three at first,” Bird, now the president of the Indiana Pacers, told me. “We weren’t like, Oh boy, here it is! No, it takes time. When they first put it in, some team took five three-pointers a game and that was a lot.”
Not only are teams shooting more three's; their averages are improving.
Collectively, NBA players shot 36.7 percent from deep this season. That's the highest mark in league history.
Bird, one of the game's all-time great players, is amazed by how many guys can shoot so well from outside these days.
“It’s funny how the game has changed,” Bird continued. “And my thinking about it. I was really worried—back sixteen, seventeen years ago—that the little guy didn’t have a spot in the N.B.A. anymore: it was just going to be the big guards like Magic Johnson. But then players started shooting more threes and spacing the court, and everyone wants small guards now. Watching these kids play now, I’m like everybody else: Wow, man. They can really shoot! They have more freedom to get to the basket. The ball moves a little better. These kids are shooting from farther, with more accuracy. Now some teams shoot up around thirty threes a game. My era, you always think that’s the greatest era. But I’m not so sure anymore.”
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