Bob Ryan Thinks The Three-Pointer Is The Worst Thing To Happen To Basketball

The three-point line has been around for decades at this point, and in recent years, players like Steph Curry and Caitlin Clark have become superstars thanks to their ability to drain threes seemingly at will. 

However, legendary sportswriter Bob Ryan told OutKick's Ricky Cobb on Tuesday's edition of The Ricky Cobb Show that the three-point line is the worst thing to ever happen to basketball.

Ricky began by talking about how he felt that three-point shots had gotten out of hand and cited a recent game in which the number of three-point attempts exceeded the number of two-point attempts.

Ryan agreed by saying it was the worst thing that he had seen happen to the game of basketball.

"For me, the three-point shot is the single worst thing to happen to basketball in my lifetime," he said.

He then explained a bit of history, noting that the three-point line began its life as a gimmick dreamed up by a promotor.

"It was not asked for by anybody in the NBA," he said. "It was the gimmick of a promotor, promotor; that man being Abe Saperstein, the impresario of the Harlem Globetrotters who founded a league in 1961 called the American Basketball League he hoped would be in opposition to the NBA."

Ryan said that the American Basketball League lasted only a year and a half, but the three-point shot was eventually taken on by the Eastern Professional Basketball League and later the American Basketball Association where it served as one gimmick to go along with the league's other famous gimmick, the red, white, and blue ball.

He talked about how nowadays, kids are trying to emulate Curry, who along with the Golden State Warriors mastered three-pointers.

However, while he's not a fan of the way the three-point shot has changed the game, Ryan conceded that the cat is out of the bag as far as threes are concerned and we may even go beyond it at some point.

"I have long said that there will probably be a four-point shot in my lifetime," he said. "The three isn't going anywhere, and that's the game.

Be sure to watch ‘The Ricky Cobb Show’ every weekday here at OutKick.com.