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As the NBA has evolved, players have taken shots from further and further away. At the beginning of the league, Bill Russell dominated in the paint, leading the Boston Celtics to 11 championships. When Paul Pierce played, mid-range shots dominated the game. Kevin Durant, one of the NBA's best mid-range shooters, has made a career operating within the three-point line.
Pierce spoke with Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George about how 3-pointers have changed the league.
Pierce appeared on Monday's episode of Podcast P with George, talking to the former All-Star about today's offense. Teams like the Celtics and 76ers are shooting from shots from deep than ever, resulting in a less-appealing game in his opinion. He complained about the lead offensive strategy in the NBA today, suggesting a rule change that could fix it.
“You know what’s bothering me now about the NBA right now is just the amount of threes,” Pierce said. “I saw the Celtics shoot 60 threes in a game. I was just like damn they could just take it to the bucket. I would just like implement like threes can only be shot at a certain point of the game. Like make the three LED. Turn that s–t off and then turn it on.”
Pierce expanded on his thought, saying that the lights would be on in specific stretches of the game. When it is off, players cannot shoot 3-pointers. He told George that it would bring more excitement to the game, keeping things fair in the process.
“We’re going to get LED threes and now it's off for the next three or four minutes,” Pierce suggested. “You ain't going to know when it's off though. But you know for the next five minutes it's going to be on. But it's always on the last five minutes of the game for you to try to come back.”
The 76ers do not shoot as many threes as the Celtics do, but the shot is a staple of every offense in the league. Last season, both Boston and the Utah Jazz shot 63 3-pointers in a single game. Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole, and LaMelo Ball each had a game where they attempted 20.
While Pierce's change might not be the direction the league goes in, the rise in 3-pointers has changed how teams build their rosters. Players like George have been coached to shoot threes or layups, disregarding inefficient mid-range shots.
Older players like Pierce and LeBron James don't like the way the NBA has evolved. Unfortunately for them, the 3-point shot is not going anywhere anytime soon.
