Three-point shot was 'worst thing to happen to basketball,' former columnist says

Not everyone likes the three-point line in the NBA.

Certainly not former columnist for The Boston Globe, Bob Ryan, who expressed his displeasure with the three-point shot during a recent appearance on OutKick’s “The Ricky Cobb Show.”

“For me, the three-point shot is the single worst thing to happen to basketball in my lifetime. And let’s back up for a little history. The ABA did not introduce the three-point shot. The ABA absorbed the three-point shot. The three-point shot, as we know, it was a gimmick of a promotor,” Ryan said. “It was the gimmick of a promotor, that man being Abe Sacks, the impresario of the Harlem Globetrotters who founded a league in 1961 called the American Basketball League he hoped would be an opposition to the NBA.

“That league lasted a year and a half; it folded in the second year, but he had a three-point shot because he needed a gimmick. The Eastern League, which was a league I was quite familiar with, having grown up in Trenton, New Jersey, and we had a franchise. I was a big fan of the Eastern League, (they) adopted the three-point shot. And when the ABA came into being in 1966, clearly it needed gimmicks, and they had of them: the three-point shot and the red, white and blue basketball. But just keep in mind that is the derivation of the three-point shot.”

The NBA introduced the three-point line during the 1979-1980 season. Chris Ford, of the Boston Celtics, made the first three-point shot in NBA history on Oct. 12, 1979.

The game has changed drastically since then, with the Celtics attempting 61 three-point shots in their opening game against the New York Knicks this season. 

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Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan poses for a photo in his home.  (Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Ryan thinks Steph Curry is the most influential player of the 21st century due to his shooting prowess. 

“All over America, 8-year-olds are cranking up threes. Steph Curry is the single most influential player of the 21st century… now it is Steph Curry. Every little kid wants to be Steph Curry, and it’s the game, the three-point shot. The Warriors mastered it with multiple championships. The Celtics mastered it last year en route to a championship, and it looks like they’re going to use the same technique to try and get there,” Ryan said. 

Ryan knows the game will not go back to the way it was played prior to the three-point line coming into the NBA, but rhe seeks more balance in shot selection in today’s game.

United States Stephen Curry (4) reacts during a mens gold medal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France.  (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

“I just want balance. All I want is balance. By balance, I don’t mean equal 50% three and 50% two. I mean reasonable intelligent balance where probably a 2-1 ratio of twos to threes would be better. When the stats go on air, they are wonderful, but check out the nights when somebody’s 9-40. It’s ugly. It’s beyond ugly. It’s disgraceful,” Ryan said. 

“And that’s not basketball as I grew to know it. I’ve reconciled myself to where it’s not going anywhere. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I just have to try and enjoy the game as much as I can. But I’ll tell you what, I don’t enjoy it as much as I did previously.”

Ryan began covering the Celtics for The Boston Globe in 1969 as their beat reporter until 1982. He then became a general sports columnist and retired in 2012. 

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