NBA commissioner Adam Silver has revealed that the league is trying to come up with a solution to the three-point shot issue that is being blamed for poor ratings.
And if we’re being honest, the critics are probably right.
As such, Silver told radio host Colin Cowherd that the matter has been discussed and he is “on it.”
“I recognize that to the extent that offenses start to look very similar, we lose [distinct team identities],” Silver said. “At the same time, the league is going through a transformation. Players like Victor Wembanyama, players like [Nikola] Jokic are doing things big men never did historically.”
Listen, don’t sleep on Manute Bol.
“It wasn’t that long ago that the conversations you had with [former commissioner] David Stern, we would bemoan the lack of skill among some players, that there was a sense there was too much physicality around the game.”
It isn’t so much the ability of players as it is the fact that too many players delude themselves into thinking they’re Steph Curry when they’re not even Caitlin Clark.
Adam Silver Wants To Fix The NBA’s Three-Point Problem
Adam Silver, despite admitting the NBA is discussing the three-point problem, isn’t prepared to simply move the line back further in order to make the shot more difficult.
“I don’t want to sort of knee-jerk move the 3-point line,” he told Cowherd. “We’re sort of going through a process now, seeing how these players are adapting to the new rules and figuring out whatever changes we should make.”
“Part of the concern from the basketball folks is that if you move the 3-point line back, you’ll end up sort of just clogging up the area under the basket, and that’s not such attractive basketball, either,” Silver said.
“I assure you, we are on it. I think it’s a very fixable issue … we will tweak it. We will correct those issues.”
Adam Silver on @ColinCowherd's 3-Point idea:
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 15, 2025
"I wish it were as simple as just moving it back… We're on it. I think it's a very fixable issue." pic.twitter.com/J5SEXVwgFM
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Is This The Problem?
Several prominent basketball personalities have blamed the three-point shot for the dreadful ratings befalling the NBA this season.
Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal believes that fans are being driven away by too many teams that can’t shoot the three, firing them up anyway.
“We’re looking at the same thing,” O’Neal said. “Everybody is running the same plays. And [the Warriors] messed it up. I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team isn’t a 3-point shooter.”
“So why [does] everybody have the same strategy? I think it makes the game boring.”
Legendary former Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan thinks the implementation of the three-point shot in the NBA is the worst thing. Ever.
“For me, the three-point shot is the single worst thing to happen to basketball in my lifetime,” Ryan said during an appearance on The Ricky Cobb Show earlier this month.
Ryan called it a “gimmick” that has gone too far and, wouldn’t you know it, he also blamed the Warriors. Steph Curry, in particular.
“All over America, 8-year-olds are cranking up threes. Steph Curry is the single most influential player of the 21st century…,” he said. “Every little kid wants to be Steph Curry, and it’s the game, the three-point shot.”
Front Office Sports reports that while the league’s 2024 season debut was a relative hit, games since then have been woefully underperforming in drawing attention to the product.
Sports Media Watch concurs, noting the NBA saw “sharp declines.”
NBA game viewership on ESPN, the league’s primary broadcasting ally, has decreased by nearly 30% compared to the previous year.
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