As a player, coach, author, and fan of this great game of basketball for over 70 years I believe there have been six revolutionary players, and as we like to say, “game changers” in the history of the NBA. Besides the players the major factors that have had an impact on the league are; the integration of African Americans into the league, the shot clock, widening the free throw lane, the merger of the ABA-NBA, the Bird-Magic “rivalry”, which led to a lot of money for the players on and off the court (shoe sells), introduction of hardships, the influx of international players, and the 3-point line, which is my focus for this post. The players that I believe have caused the greatest changes to the game or have influenced the way the game is played are George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Dirk Nowitzki, Magic Johson, and Steph Curry.  I am not saying these are the greatest players in the history of the game, but their impact is hard to ignore.  This post is about one of those generational players and the subsequent revolutionary phenomena that this player and other point guards have caused as a result. The 3-point line has changed the game, and particularly the role and offensive output of the point guards.

I don’t believe it is possible to win in basketball without a good point guard. It may not be as critical a position as the quarterback in football, or a goalie in ice hockey but it’s in the same ilk.  I have seen the point guard position change and evolve over the years. The point guard is much more than a playmaker, passer, ballhandler and overall initiator of the offense. They have become “the force” offensively on the basketball court. There are several reasons for this; a faster pace game, initiated with the shot clock in 1954-55, bigger more dominating players, but the most important and most significant reason for the evolution of the point guard is the 3-point shot.

First, a little history of the point guard in the NBA. Beginning in 1954-55, except for Bob Cousy, who I consider one of the best point guards of all time, the point guards averaged less than 14 points a game. They had very little offensive impact. The points production changed drastically in the 1960s when two of the greatest point guards to ever play the game showed up, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. In my book I devote several pages to how important physicality is to being an elite basketball player. Both these point guards were not only great talents but physically superior to the point guards before them. The “Big O” or West led ALL the guards in the NBA in scoring for 10 years until Dave Bing in 1970-71 led the league with a 27-point average. (West averaged 26.9.) Both were also the leaders in assists along with Guy Rodgers and Lenny Wilkens. Tiny Archibald took over the scoring lead for point guards in 1971-72 for 4 of the next 5 years. From 1976-77 until 1983-84 several different point guards like World B. Free, Gus Williams, and Reggie Theus led the league in scoring until the mid-eighties when Isiah Thomas and Sidney Moncrief led the league. Magic Johnson came into the league in 1979-80 and revolutionized the point guard position not just with his size but with his ability. He was the best at getting everyone on his team involved in the offense.  A “triple-double” was not even a stat until Magic came into the league! Ironically, none of these great guards were scoring all these points as a result of the 3-point shot.

In the 90s the scoring from the point guard position took a noticeable rise with guys like; Kevin Johnson, Mark Price, Tim Hardaway, Terry Porter, Kenny Anderson, Penny Hardaway, Gary Payton, Steph Marbury, and Allen Iverson scoring in the high teens or over 20 a game.  So, the initial reaction would probably be that given the introduction of the 3-point shot that that was only natural. However, even though the 3-point shot became a part, all be it, a small part of the game in 1979-80 it would be 20 years before it fully impacted the game. The average number of 3-point shots taken was, drum roll please, less than 10 per game. That is the average for the entire TEAM. Reggie Miller and Dan Majerle, who were NOT point guards, attempted the most with 5.1 and 6.3 respectively. But something happened in 1994-95 to cause the team and the player attempts to almost double, the 3-point line was moved in to 22 feet from the original 23 feet, nine inches. The distance that most perimeter players in the NBA feel comfortable shooting from. But 3 years later it was moved back and once again the 3-point attempts dropped off an average of 4 a contest. But then in 2004-05 something happened that would change basketball, at every level, forever. Mike D’Antoni became the head coach of the Phoenix Suns after one year as an assistant. Coach D’Antoni coached in the Italian basketball league for seven years where the 3-point shot was a big part of every team’s offensive arsenal.  His Suns basketball team led by Steve Nash began shooting 3-point shots like no one else ever had. The Suns led the league with 24.7 attempts in the 2004-05 season followed by 25.6 attempts in the 2005-06 season. The Suns led the league in threes for three straight years, averaging over 24 attempts each year. The NBA had gone from an average of 2.8 threes a game to over 16.9, but it had taken almost a quarter of a century to get there.  D’Antoni, a former “point guard” from West Virginia, was drafted in the 2^nd round out of Marshall, and revolutionized basketball as we know it. But he was not alone, the 3-point shot was about to go nuclear. In 2007-08 there was a new advocate for the 3-points shot.  A General Manager from the Houston Rockets by the name of Darryl Morey. Morey, a proponent of analytics, figured out that a team making only one-third of their 3s could score as many points in a game as a team that shot 50% from inside the arc. After the Rockets acquired James Harden the onslaught for launching 3s began. The Rockets attempted an NBA record 45 threes per game during the 2018-19 season. This new and radical offensive weapon dominated the NBA and basketball at all levels. The Golden State Warriors were led by a generational “point guard”, Steph Curry, who has averaged over 10 three attempts a game for the last 8 years. The game of basketball and how it is played has been transformed forever because of the 3-point arc. There are now 13 teams in the NBA that average MAKING over 12.2 threes a game. In this past year there were fifteen of the thirty-point guards in the NBA that averaged over 20 points a game, mostly shooting 3s. The role of the point guard has played a major role in that change. That is the revolution AND evolution behind the impact of the point guard position in basketball!

Stephen Curry is one of six players in the history of the game that has played a major role in revolutionizing the game. He has been the greatest beneficiary of this 3-point phenomenon. Many NBA potentates believe Curry is a legitimate candidate to crack the top 10 greatest basketball players of all time. They may be right.

A final point that needs to be made, just as I did over and over in my book, statistics can be misleading and must be measured within the era. Several of the point guards that averaged under 11 or 12 points a game in the 60s or 70s would have obviously averaged more points with the 3-point line and benefited from how the 3-point line has “stretched” the floor.

The picture is of my childhood basketball heroes, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.