Adam Silver Plans To Address NBA’s Three-Point Shooting Problem, Says It’s Not As Simple As Moving The ‘Line Back’

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that the league intends to take action to “tweak” and “correct” rules that have led to excessive three-point shooting. Part of a decades-long trend, Silver recognizes that many fans have soured on the convention as three-point shots now account for more than 40% of all field goal attempts across the league.

In his appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Silver agreed that excessive three-point shooting has weakened the product for viewers. He also said that the issue was not a simple one to fix, requiring a nuanced approach.  

“So I think we’ve just gotta be careful. The one thing we don’t want to do is, I don’t want to just kneejerk move the three-point line,” Silver said in his interview with Cowherd. “We’re sort of going through a process now, seeing how these players are adapting to the new rules, and figuring out what changes we should make. To be honest, I wish it was as simple as just moving the three-point line back, because then we would just do it.”

Silver’s primary concern is that any measures to manipulate the rate of three-point shooting would harm the product in other ways. By moving back the three-point line, for instance, he and other NBA officials fear that play would become too concentrated in the paint. The commissioner recalled periods where the NBA was criticized for too much play under the rim, at the expense of other fundamentals. Instead of submitting to the whim of public sentiment, he seems intent on finding a long-term solution.

The dominance of the perimeter shot in the NBA is easy to trace through the years. The Phoenix Suns’ motion offense under Mike D’Antoni in the mid-2000s was an obvious spark, as Steve Nash spearheaded an elite offense intent on scoring in seven seconds or less each possession. But that spark wouldn’t ignite until the 2010s, when the Golden State Warriors built a dynasty founded on elite shooting.

Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, nicknamed the Splash Brothers, provided historic production from beyond the arc and led the Warriors won four championships in eight years. Early successors to this strategy, most notably the Houston Rockets, failed to match Golden State’s success, but the trend continued all the same. 

In the 2023-24 season, the Boston Celtics shot more three-pointers than two-pointers, becoming the first team in NBA history to do so. It was a revelatory offensive strategy that finally allowed Boston to win its 18th championship, but for some, it was the escalation that turned a dynamic offensive system into an unattractive form of basketball.

Instead of acknowledging the three-point issue, as Silver has readily done in the past, the NBA commissioner has finally taken the next step and agreed to take action. With the help of NBA Executive Vice President Joe Dumars, Silver has vowed to find a solution soon.

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