The league has seen a lot of changes since the three-pointer came into play. A lot of players have opted to shoot from beyond the arc, and it gets simpler each day yet is still weird to watch.
Many analysts claim that the three-pointer became a powerful weapon when the Golden State Warriors harnessed the said shot. NBA’s first unanimous MVP Stephen Curry and his combo Klay Thompson began the trend, hitting shots from afar and creating momentum.
Since then, the duo was dubbed as the ‘Splash Brothers’ as fans would say because they made it rain with threes in every single game. Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson made his team known by working on the magic of the three-pointers.
When the team failed to reach the semi-finals, Jackson was fired, and former Bulls sharpshooter Steve Kerr was named as the team’s coach. He started off with what the former coach built – the team’s speciality in threes.
Then everyone else knew the story. The Warriors had a short run in the Finals, winning three of their last five trips there. They broke the best record in the NBA, finishing the 2015-16 season with a 73-9 record, only to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavalier.
They added Kevin Durant to the mix and then won two straight NBA titles. DeMarcus Cousins took a star minimum salary and joined the Warriors to create the best possible lineup in that time. Then they lost to the Toronto Raptors last June in just six games – as Kawhi Leonard took home the trophy for the first time in Canada.
Just then, the Warriors fell down as they left the league with the gift of the three-pointer. They have influenced the world that everyone can do it.
The thing with the three-pointer is, everyone is trying to do it. Not just guards or forwards, but even the big men – who were supposed to be dominant in the paint is shooting threes in transition.
It has been a norm that the big men should be inside the paint for hook shots, layups, and dunks. It is quite surprising that low-percentage shooters such as JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and other known big men in the league are starting tohit three-pointers.
While most fans see this as an odd one, it proved to be a game-changer in today’s game. In the case of Lakers’ star Anthony Davis, he has the size and the strength to make drives to the rim. On the bright side, Davis himself is also an effective shooter, knocking down shots on the baseline, which is why he can be more effective in shooting threes.
Yes, his three-point shooting percentage isn’t that high, but with the fact that he can take the shot, it means that he can stretch the floor. Davis could force slow-moving big men out of the paint and then make his move off a pick-and-roll play.
The same can be said for Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who is known to be a versatile centre in the league. Embiid himself is known for attempting at least two threes per game. The three-pointer, however, isn’t meant for traditional centres such as Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Hassan Whiteside and many more.
The game has changed, but that does not mean that the players today cannot find a way to adapt on their own.
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