Legend Larry Bird believes modern three-point shooting has improved the NBA

“Too many damn threes are being launched. So it’s a broader conversation than just about the All-Star Game,” LeBron James told the press recently, when asked about the current state of the NBA. Days before, the NBA Commissioner had said that the league was looking into the saturated volume of shots taken from beyond the arc. 

There’s is no doubt that there is a lot of conversation going around the basketball world, mostly complaining about how much the game has changed due to the three-point revolution, which most consider Stephen Curry as the leader. However, back in the day, even Boston legend Larry Bird was considered to be one of the NBA’s best shooters.

Even though he was never really considered a three-point specialist, shooting from range wasn’t really a part of the game as it is today. Just last week, even big man Al Horford passed Larry in the all-time three-pointers made in Celtics’ history.

Congratulations to Al Horford for passing Larry Bird for 7th place on the all time Celtics three pointers made list pic.twitter.com/AnSAK31IIY

— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) December 30, 2024

“When the 3-point line came in in 1980 in the NBA game, if I was behind the 3-point line with the ball, we wouldn’t even guard him,” the Hall of Famer said some time ago when asked about the ever-changing sport. “We wouldn’t go out there. We get off of him three or four foot and dare him to shoot.”

Despite so many calling the modern game boring due to the amount of attempts from beyond the arc, Bird actually considers it to be good for the NBA. The Celtics legend is convinced that the sport is much more versatile today with centers like Nikola Jokic using their shot precision at their advantage.

“To see the game to come to this point after 30-some years and teams are taking 35 a game … some 50, my team started to shoot 25 or 30 again. I just never anticipated that. When I played, I never shot that many. A little bit later in my career, I shot more. But I never heard any that used it as your advantage,” Bird said.

The ex-NBA star said teams nowadays are more resilient because of it. “I’ve always at the end of the game if you’re down one or if you’re up two, you make a three-pointer to demoralize this team,” he assured. “Now, they make one nobody even flinches. I think it’s been better for our game.”