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There's no denying the effects of the NBA's three-point revolution when every team in the league has started chucking threes in the name of efficiency. For instance, hardly anyone takes the usual mid-range jay anymore, the least efficient shot in the game: it's better to shoot a three instead of a long jumper that gives the same points as a dunk or a layup. Even Shaq said threes made the NBA boring because every team played the same way: drive to the basket after a pick or dribble hand-off for a layup or kick out to the shooter. Meanwhile, ESPN analyst and NBA writer Kirk Goldsberry proposed a solution to the issue.
“It's time to move the three-point line,” Goldsberry said during his appearance on the Datacast for NBA on TNT, seen this clip shared on X, formerly Twitter. “It's too easy for too many guys.”
Does the NBA have a three-point problem?
Responding to Shaq's comments, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he is open to move the three-point line farther, especially since the league has done it before. However, this change may not happen in the immediate future.
Still, Goldsberry also highlighted a concerning statistic in today's shooting in the NBA.
“One in nine shots in the league is a corner three,” he said, to the surprise of co-hosts Jalen Rose and Channing Frye. “It was one in 20, it was one in 40, now it's one in nine.”
True enough, for teams playing in the aftermath of the NBA's three-point revolution, the corner three is one of the easiest shots they can take, since it's relatively closer to the basket than the wing or the top of the key.
In the 2000s, not every team employed corner specialists, like the San Antonio Spurs' Bruce Bowen, but now it seems every team needs a PJ Tucker, as five-out spacing requires five shooting threats on the perimeter.
While fans and even former players complain about the NBA's watered down shot-chucking play, its teams have found success playing this way.
A league of chuckers
For example, the defending champion Boston Celtics have raced to a fast start while chucking 50 threes a game, as coach Joe Mazzulla has structured his offense to let his players let it fly all game.
Moreover, the Celtics tied a franchise record for three-pointers made in one half against the New York Knicks to open the season.
Still, the NBA moving the three-point line farther away, per Kirk Goldsberry's suggestion, could help bring back some diversity to basketball, a beautiful sport that teams' fixation on efficiency and analytics have practically turned into a spreadsheet.
Likewise, the NBA's viewership continues to decline season after season, because of many reasons, though maybe one of them is that the league itself has cultivated a fanbase of accountants masquerading as basketball fans.
