Has the 3-point revolution gone too far? That’s one of the biggest questions sweeping the basketball landscape in recent weeks and months, particularly in the NBA. Many would answer “yes,” and it appears that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is in that camp.
James spoke to reporters on Thursday afternoon ahead of the Lakers’ matchup with the Sacramento Kings and was asked about the changes to the All-Star Game, which will now feature a mini-tournament between four teams, including one comprised of players from the Rising Stars challenge. His response was not limited to his thoughts on the All-Star Game.
“Something had to change,” James said. “I was not part of the committee. It’s different, but I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see when we get there. It’s different. Obviously any time you make some type of change there’s gonna be some [blowback]. I don’t know. I have my ideas of what could possibly work, but I’m not gonna do that. We gotta do something. The last couple of years have not been a great All-Star Game, that Sunday night.
“But listen, it’s a bigger conversation. It’s not just the All-Star Game, it’s our game in general. Our game, there’s a lot of f—ing 3s being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game”
There is no debate about the amount of 3-pointers being taken this season.
The Boston Celtics average 51.1 attempts per game, and are on pace to soar past the single-season record of 3,721 attempts by the 2018-19 Houston Rockets. In the Chicago Bulls‘ win over the Charlotte Hornets on Dec. 13, the two teams set a record by missing a combined 75 3s. A few days later, in the Dallas Mavericks‘ win over the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 15, the two teams set a record by making a combined 48 3s.
Whether that’s a problem is another question. At the very least, there is a segment of the NBA fan base, and, judging by James’ comments, perhaps the players as well, that is tired of seeing so many 3s.
Earlier this month, a clip from the Phoenix Suns‘ win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 26, which showed the two teams trading nine missed 3s in a two-minute span, went viral on social media. “Why don’t you watch the NBA anymore? THIS is why,” the caption read. As of this writing it has more than 10 million views.
The NBA has taken notice, but commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this week in Las Vegas that he would “not reduce it to a so-called 3-point shooting issue.” Silver acknolwedged that the league would “look more holistically” at concerns about style of play and fan reaction, but emphasized that he thinks the game is in a “great place.”
“I love watching the games, and I think we have some of the most skilled athletes in the world competing,” Silver said. “And it’s unfair, I think, to the players to lump them into categories as 3-point shooters or a midrange shooter or big man playing under the basket. It’s an amazing game. Having said that, we’re constantly having discussions about whether there are ways to improve stylistically the game on the floor.”
