Adam Silver Recognizes The 3-Point Shooting Issue In The NBA, But Says League Won't Move Line Back

Many NBA fans, whether it be casuals or diehards, have grown incredibly tired of teams almost exclusively relying on the three-point shot. League commissioner Adam Silver has not only heard the complaints but is also agreeing with them to some extent.

Many would say there is a three-point shooting issue in the league, which is fair, both from an eye-test perspective and when looking at the numbers. More than 41% of shots taken in NBA games so far this season have come from behind the arc. Every team in the league is averaging over 30 three-point attempts per game, with all but two of those teams averaging over 35 shots from deep per contest. 

If you go back to the 2018-19 season, just as a random example, exactly one team in the NBA averaged more than 35 three-point shots per game.

Whether you blame Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors teams of years past, AAU ball, or anything else, the fact remains that the NBA has never been more of a shooting contest than it is today.

Seeing players knock down shots from deep is fine, but seeing 60-plus three-point shots per game gets stale, fast, and it feels as if a tipping point is fast approaching.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has acknowledged the three-point shooting issue taking over the league.(© Kyle Terada-Imagn Images)

While fixing this issue is going to be complicated - you can't just tell teams to stop shooting three-point shots - Silver is not only acknowledging that there is an issue, but hinting that a change is coming.

"What do we do to change it? I agree to the extent that you start to see very similar offenses around the league," Silver told Colin Cowherd. "At the same time, the league is going through a transformation. Just as you said, players like Victor Wembanyama, players like [Nikola] Jokic, are doing things that big men never did historically," he continued.

How about moving the three-point line back a few inches? Easy enough, but that can't be the fix, at least not according to Silver.

"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 3-point line," Silver continued. 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 3-point line back, because then we would just do it. Part of the concern from the basketball folks is that if you move the 3-point line back, you'll end up just sort of clogging up the area under the basket, and that's not such attractive basketball either."

Moving the three-point line back would likely result in fewer threes taken, at least until players adapt and figure that out, but as Silver noted, it would change the entire dynamic of the court. Spacing, assignments, and strategy would evolve. That may not necessarily be a bad thing, but it could also change the product, one that some fans have already seemed to have checked out on.