That’s what Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban asserted when asked about the current placement of the NBA’s 3-point line.
Painted precisely at 23 feet, 9 inches at the crest and 22 feet at the corners, the 3-point line challenges NBA players to make long-distance shots with the reward of receiving an extra point for their efforts.
Or does it?
A recent debate going around the league is questioning the sufficiency of the 3-point line, considering that a number of NBA sharpshooters are making threes as if they were practice layups.
“Guys are shooting a foot behind it anyways,” Cuban points out about the arc. A shocking stat about Stephen Curry proves that Cuban might be right:
So is it time for the NBA to make an adjustment? Cuban’s argument for the new 3-point line is to bring back the slowly dying midrange jumper and hopefully encourage more plays in the paint. According to ESPN, all NBA teams combined are on pace to make 58,477 3-pointers, a whopping 3,340 shots above the current NBA record for threes made in a single season.
“I think it would open it up more so guys with different skill sets could play,” Cuban told ESPN.
Cuban’s comment has been met with strong opposition from a number of other basketball enthusiasts, including NBA bloggers Josh Schuhmann and Sekou Smith. Both commentators bring up a different and extremely valid reason for leaving the 3-point line right where it is:
“It’s fine the way it is right now,” writes Schuhmann. “Layups (1.20 points per attempt) are still more valuable than corner threes (1.12ppa)…so getting into the paint and working inside out is still an important aspect of NBA offense.”
Smith followed up with a reminder that “not everyone is shooting [the three] like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.” He also makes an interesting comparison between shooting threes and dunking that should be taken into consideration during this debate:
“Guys can jump out of the gym these days, but I don’t see anyone lobbying for the rim to be raised another foot.”
What Smith is saying seems only logical: Why should the NBA change the rules just because players are improving and employing their strengths? Smith’s sentiment was echoed by Washington Wizards power forward Jared Dudley in an interview with the Washington Post. After being attacked on Twitter for his “stretch-four” status (a forward with proficiency from 3-point range), Dudley explained that as the game changes, he and many other players have adapted in order to find new strategies for success.
“Spacing is at a premium... Because you can’t put your hand on [other players] so now people are able to space the floor.” Dudley feels that rather than move the 3-point line back, “if they change the rules and [players] are able to get more physical” the league would see a greater impact on 3-point percentages.
Where does the NBA go from here? So far this season, all NBA teams combined take 24 percent of their shots from beyond the 3-point line with a success rate of 35 percent. While this season has the highest number of made threes out of the last six seasons, the level of improvement doesn’t seem high enough for the NBA to redraw the line. If all else fails, they could always go with Spurs head coach Greg Popovich’s idea:
“Let’s have a five-point line.”
