Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are two of the greatest offensive players in NBA history. And according to them, players choosing to shoot three-pointers on every play is hurting the game. Speaking on their podcast, the two players explained this mindset, and why the issue is coming from their development plans and the trainers they work with. Garnett went off, saying that players need to be smarter when on the court.
Paul Pierce: “Does anybody work on their game or their moves? What are they doing in the offseason? You get with these individual trainers and work on moves to shoot a three. Every move is to get into a three. I don’t see the art of go-to moves…”
Kevin Garnett: “I don’t know any of these trainers… A lot of the trainers that I have met ain’t ever played a lick of basketball on top of the NBA. The way Paul was just talking was a scorer’s mentality…”
“Ain’t no trainer coming from the perspective of scoring throughout a quarter and giving you the moves or the layout for how to score in those quarters. It’s a structure. Everybody that you’ve seen in the past who were great scorers had a method to that.”
“It might have looked like he was just out there shooting and doing whatever… You need to have trainers and assistant coaches in development who can develop young talent to think and score a certain way… The whole object of the game is to get to the basket and put it in. That’s what the ideal is. It’s always been about getting a layup…”
“If they take your midrange because he’s sitting damn near at the free-throw line and you were at the three-point line when they came in, and you can make it? Then you took a three.”
“But we’re not teaching the game in development. Why would I expect a kid who has never been taught that to have any type of notion about what to do in the last two or three minutes?… It is different levels of teachings on this.”
“I wish I could talk to Mike [Jordan]. He was such a mathematician. Then he had certain spots on the joint that he knew ‘I can hit a 15-footer from the corner of the free-throw line on both sides. I can hit it in the middle. I can hit one on the block. He made big guards start posting up.”
“I’m just talking about the evolution of scoring… You have to start right there for the progression.”
Garnett and Pierce certainly have a point. While they aren’t criticizing players for shooting threes, the fact that every player in the NBA instinctively looks for a deep-range shot rather than getting to the basket isn’t right, according to them. One can attribute this to the development of the game, but it is definitely an interesting conversation.
Does Three-Point Shooting Lead To High Scoring?
Many analytics experts will argue that a team with volume three-point shooting from all players will lead to high-scoring numbers. But if you look at the stats, that isn’t the case. Of the 20 highest points-per-game records in NBA history, only three teams; the 2023-24 Pacers, 2024-25 Cavaliers, and 2024-25 Memphis Grizzlies are teams from the modern, three-point era.
Here is the list of the 20 highest points-per-game averages across a season:
1. Denver Nuggets – 126.5 PPG (1981-82)
2. Golden State Warriors – 125.4 PPG (1961-62)
3. Philadelphia 76ers – 125.2 PPG (1966-67)
4. Boston Celtics – 124.5 PPG (1959-60)
5. Denver Nuggets – 123.7 PPG (1983-84)
6. Indiana Pacers – 123.3 PPG (2023-24)
7. Denver Nuggets – 123.2 PPG (1982-83)
8. Cincinnati Royals – 123.1 PPG (1961-62)
9. Philadephia 76ers – 122.6 PPG (1967-68)
10. Golden State Warriors – 122.4 PPG (1966-67)
11. Philadelphia 76ers – 121.9 PPG (1969-70)
12. Denver Nuggets – 121.8 PPG (1980-81)
13. Cleveland Cavaliers – 121.8 PPG (2024-25)
14. Syracuse Nationals – 121.6 PPG (1962-63)
15. Memphis Grizzlies – 121.4 PPG (2024-25)
16. Syracuse Nationals – 121.3 PPG (1960-61)
17. Los Angeles Lakers – 121.2 PPG (1967-68)
18. Boston Celtics – 121.1 PPG (1961-62)
19. Golden State Warriors – 121.0 PPG (1960-61)
20. Los Angeles Lakers – 121.0 PPG (1971-72)
This shows that the more traditional, layup-oriented approach to offensive play led to higher scoring in the league. This is truly remarkable, especially considering that there were far more stringent offensive rules for players to abide by at the time, not to mention the higher intensity that defense was played within that era.
Should NBA teams slightly de-emphasize three-point shooting? It’s a double-edged sword, as it is the correct approach in the modern NBA given the rules in place. But at the same time, players are scoring at lower clips with less efficiency in games, leading to less exciting basketball.
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