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How can NBA address 3-point boom? Ranking 12 potential solutions

21 points by amichail 2y ago

gremlinsinc 2y ago
Why not create a pooled incentive if you keep 3s under x, you get 5 million that game either to split or just for the coach since they lead the plays and shit. Money talks and the NBA is all about money. So just throw money at the problem. I think maybe having a goal tending timer could work too... like 5 to 10 seconds after the ball enters the half court, goal tending is allowed on 3 pointers. So they'd have to take the shot quicker or do it around goal tending.
amichail 2y ago
Why not make the points awarded for a shot equal to the speed at which the ball goes through the hoop?
- bobnamob 2y ago
  Hacker: love it, rig up a rpi and a pair of light sensors, score on a sliding 0-5 scale Ball fan: Borderline impossible to officiate at non-professional level. Keeping the “casual” game relatively similar to the professional game is important for talent feed
  - ziml77 2y ago
    Not just for getting talent, but also so people can feel closer to the sport. There's more of a connection when the game you're playing casually is the same as the game that you're watching the really skilled people play.
- Kon-Peki 2y ago
  That would incentivize more 3s and dunks. The article spends plenty of time describing why incentivizing dunks is a bad idea, and of course, the question is about how you get fewer 3s attempted. Here’s my suggestion: reduce the rim diameter slightly. This is something that could easily be tested in the development leagues, especially if it were a removable insert.
silisili 2y ago
A lot of these are almost nonsensical, but a few rational ones exist. Probably the most reasonable is just adding another 5 feet to the three point line all the way around(which yes, means widening the court). Drawing your own lines, or another 4 point line? I feel things like that would actually exacerbate the problem.
- bdangubic 2y ago
  what do you think would be logistics of changing every arena to accomodate larger court - not just in the US but internationally? changing court size is out of the question for sure. to me the main problem is that 3-pt used to be reserved for only a couple of players on each team that could make them with high enough percentage that coaches would allow them (imagine bill laimbeir shooting 3’s on MJ’s Bulls…). Steph changed that - he made shooting cool and new generation of ballers grew up shooting (including 7-footers). NBA needs to make a change such that only handful of players on each team can make 3’s again (like before) and for that moving the 3-pt to 27+ feet and eliminating corner 3’s is the only sane-ish way forward
  - silisili 2y ago
    > what do you think would be logistics of changing every arena to accomodate larger court - not just in the US but internationally? I don't know about every court, especially internationally, but most courts are assembled on site and have plenty of room to work with. I pasted a link below of a typical court being assembled. Notice there is plenty of room all around when done, usually for bench, scorekeepers, random floor seating, etc. They could make it work if they wanted. Is it a rational ask? I don't know, one would have to collect data and feedback from all professional courts. But I don't think it's as big as having to redesign or reconstruct an entire building. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7YULqWbKsDw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7YULqWbKsDw
    - bdangubic 2y ago
      interesting! thanks for sharing
- 2y ago
GenerWork 2y ago
Fine, I'll bite: why is this an issue and why does it need to be addressed?
- fnqi8ckfek 2y ago
  [dead]
- polski-g 2y ago
  Some people claim it makes the game more boring to watch and might drive down viewership.
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    it is not some people claim though, viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit like in-season tournaments and silly pick up games shit for All Star ( https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format )… the league and game itself are a shadow of their former self and main culprit lies in the fact that today’s game is just chuckers chucking 3’s
    - 1659447091 2y ago
      > viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit That's surprising to see as the WNBA is steadily growing and had a large jump this year--supposedly due to Caitlin Clark Effect[0] (a generational player). But they had been growing viewership steadily before that. I don't really care for basketball in any form, too many points, but I would catch headlines on espn & other sports channels and the WNBA was taking up a lot of real estate in the top headlines this year and before that it was usually about another attendance or viewing record. Curious what they are doing different than the Men's game? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect
      - bdangubic 2y ago
        WNBA has a bonafide star for the first time ever - a full-on household name! my daughter who isn’t even a basketball fan made me get tickets when she played the Mystics. If she sticks with playing in Europe WNBA ratings next year will be comparable to synchronized swimming at the Olympics (I hope this doesn’t happen and WNBA can build of this momentum).
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
jrs235 2y ago
Simple solution: Get rid of 3 pointers in the NBA.
- bdangubic 2y ago
  you should hit YT and watch some old games prior to 3-pt line addition to see how awful that was :)
  - eviks 2y ago
    Not a good comparison, modern athletes are better, so the result wouldn't be as bad
    - bdangubic 2y ago
      some of the greatest highlights in the history of the league are 3-pt involved, MJ on fire against Blazers, Reggie Miller scoring 9 pts in 30-ish seconds at the Garden, LeBron’s buzzer with Cavs… you can’t just take that away from the game. This would be like saying NFL should do everything imaginable to prevent passing - many moons ago NFL was mostly a running league and we have better athletes now so game would still be “interesting” if 80% of the plays were runs.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ziml77 2y ago
I feel like this article slapped a bunch of possible solutions together just for the sake of having a list, rather than to actually consider what might be a good idea. So if there's any fans of basketball here, I'd be interested in hearing what you actually think would be a good idea.
pylua 2y ago
The three pointer isn’t the problem. I actually prefer the three point shooting. It also seems like it encourages athleticism over raw size. The real problem, in my opinion, is the lack of aggression. It’s what made sports more interesting to watch in the 80s and 90s. It’s been toned down to the point where it’s not interesting.
eviks 2y ago
Interesting that even the first option fails to consider the obvious: you can have numbers after the decimal! So instead of moving to 4 and 3 you can move just one number to 2.3 And then you can tune it to whatever the most watchable outcome would be
sotix 2y ago
Many of these suggestions are ridiculous. I think either eliminate the three pointer or allow goaltending on three pointers. Gregg Popovich was right in pointing out that it was a gimmick introduced by the ABA and makes the game worse. Every team plays too similarly now, and it’s not exciting to see the reduced athleticism.

21 points by amichail 2y ago

Why not create a pooled incentive if you keep 3s under x, you get 5 million that game either to split or just for the coach since they lead the plays and shit. Money talks and the NBA is all about money. So just throw money at the problem. I think maybe having a goal tending timer could work too... like 5 to 10 seconds after the ball enters the half court, goal tending is allowed on 3 pointers. So they'd have to take the shot quicker or do it around goal tending.

amichail 2y ago

Why not make the points awarded for a shot equal to the speed at which the ball goes through the hoop?

bobnamob 2y ago
Hacker: love it, rig up a rpi and a pair of light sensors, score on a sliding 0-5 scale Ball fan: Borderline impossible to officiate at non-professional level. Keeping the “casual” game relatively similar to the professional game is important for talent feed
- ziml77 2y ago
  Not just for getting talent, but also so people can feel closer to the sport. There's more of a connection when the game you're playing casually is the same as the game that you're watching the really skilled people play.
Kon-Peki 2y ago
That would incentivize more 3s and dunks. The article spends plenty of time describing why incentivizing dunks is a bad idea, and of course, the question is about how you get fewer 3s attempted. Here’s my suggestion: reduce the rim diameter slightly. This is something that could easily be tested in the development leagues, especially if it were a removable insert.

silisili 2y ago

A lot of these are almost nonsensical, but a few rational ones exist. Probably the most reasonable is just adding another 5 feet to the three point line all the way around(which yes, means widening the court). Drawing your own lines, or another 4 point line? I feel things like that would actually exacerbate the problem.

bdangubic 2y ago
what do you think would be logistics of changing every arena to accomodate larger court - not just in the US but internationally? changing court size is out of the question for sure. to me the main problem is that 3-pt used to be reserved for only a couple of players on each team that could make them with high enough percentage that coaches would allow them (imagine bill laimbeir shooting 3’s on MJ’s Bulls…). Steph changed that - he made shooting cool and new generation of ballers grew up shooting (including 7-footers). NBA needs to make a change such that only handful of players on each team can make 3’s again (like before) and for that moving the 3-pt to 27+ feet and eliminating corner 3’s is the only sane-ish way forward
- silisili 2y ago
  > what do you think would be logistics of changing every arena to accomodate larger court - not just in the US but internationally? I don't know about every court, especially internationally, but most courts are assembled on site and have plenty of room to work with. I pasted a link below of a typical court being assembled. Notice there is plenty of room all around when done, usually for bench, scorekeepers, random floor seating, etc. They could make it work if they wanted. Is it a rational ask? I don't know, one would have to collect data and feedback from all professional courts. But I don't think it's as big as having to redesign or reconstruct an entire building. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7YULqWbKsDw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7YULqWbKsDw
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    interesting! thanks for sharing
2y ago

GenerWork 2y ago

Fine, I'll bite: why is this an issue and why does it need to be addressed?

fnqi8ckfek 2y ago
[dead]
polski-g 2y ago
Some people claim it makes the game more boring to watch and might drive down viewership.
- bdangubic 2y ago
  it is not some people claim though, viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit like in-season tournaments and silly pick up games shit for All Star ( https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format )… the league and game itself are a shadow of their former self and main culprit lies in the fact that today’s game is just chuckers chucking 3’s
  - 1659447091 2y ago
    > viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit That's surprising to see as the WNBA is steadily growing and had a large jump this year--supposedly due to Caitlin Clark Effect[0] (a generational player). But they had been growing viewership steadily before that. I don't really care for basketball in any form, too many points, but I would catch headlines on espn & other sports channels and the WNBA was taking up a lot of real estate in the top headlines this year and before that it was usually about another attendance or viewing record. Curious what they are doing different than the Men's game? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect
    - bdangubic 2y ago
      WNBA has a bonafide star for the first time ever - a full-on household name! my daughter who isn’t even a basketball fan made me get tickets when she played the Mystics. If she sticks with playing in Europe WNBA ratings next year will be comparable to synchronized swimming at the Olympics (I hope this doesn’t happen and WNBA can build of this momentum).

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

jrs235 2y ago

Simple solution: Get rid of 3 pointers in the NBA.

bdangubic 2y ago
you should hit YT and watch some old games prior to 3-pt line addition to see how awful that was :)
- eviks 2y ago
  Not a good comparison, modern athletes are better, so the result wouldn't be as bad
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    some of the greatest highlights in the history of the league are 3-pt involved, MJ on fire against Blazers, Reggie Miller scoring 9 pts in 30-ish seconds at the Garden, LeBron’s buzzer with Cavs… you can’t just take that away from the game. This would be like saying NFL should do everything imaginable to prevent passing - many moons ago NFL was mostly a running league and we have better athletes now so game would still be “interesting” if 80% of the plays were runs.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

ziml77 2y ago

I feel like this article slapped a bunch of possible solutions together just for the sake of having a list, rather than to actually consider what might be a good idea. So if there's any fans of basketball here, I'd be interested in hearing what you actually think would be a good idea.

pylua 2y ago

The three pointer isn’t the problem. I actually prefer the three point shooting. It also seems like it encourages athleticism over raw size. The real problem, in my opinion, is the lack of aggression. It’s what made sports more interesting to watch in the 80s and 90s. It’s been toned down to the point where it’s not interesting.

eviks 2y ago

Interesting that even the first option fails to consider the obvious: you can have numbers after the decimal! So instead of moving to 4 and 3 you can move just one number to 2.3 And then you can tune it to whatever the most watchable outcome would be

sotix 2y ago

Many of these suggestions are ridiculous. I think either eliminate the three pointer or allow goaltending on three pointers. Gregg Popovich was right in pointing out that it was a gimmick introduced by the ABA and makes the game worse. Every team plays too similarly now, and it’s not exciting to see the reduced athleticism.