Today’s NBA is all about the 3-pointer. Teams and players are shooting it in high volumes, and just about every player in the league has adapted it into their game.
While perimeter shooting has always been a part of basketball, it wasn’t always as important or valued as it is today.
In an appearance on “The Jump” 7x NBA Champion Robert Horry talked a bit about the evolution of the three, and why (he feels) it has ruined the NBA.
“The three-game has messed up the game because now everyone thinks they can shoot it. Go back to being Joel Embiid. You see what he’s doing. I know he shoots a couple, but he’s making his bread and butter in the paint.
For me, I am watching the game now and it’s kind of like, ‘Who is not a three-point shooter?’ You have these bigs that cannot shoot threes and they’re shooting threes.”
He pointed the finger of blame towards Steph Curry and Damian Lillard, who have helped popularize long-distance shooting range with their own theatrics from beyond the arc.
“I know three is more than two, we learned this in preschool. But it doesn’t really matter if you’re 3 for 10 and you can’t shoot it. Everybody thinks that’s good. That is poor! If you’re going to shoot 10 threes, you got to make at least 6. That means you’re hot. And I blame Steph and I blame Damian… They’ve taken it to a whole new level.”
(start at: 0:54)
Never before has shooting been such a huge part of the game, but when you watch guys like Curry and Dame do their thing on the court, you can understand why.
Being a sniper makes things so much easier in the offense — it’s like a cheat code, and every team (and player) wants in on it.
But what kind of toll is it taking on the game? What kind of effect is it having on the quality of the league? Horry is just one of many who doesn’t like what he sees.
