Former Philadelphia 76ers point guard and three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams gave his honest input on the long-running issue of fans—and even league players, former and current—over the league being plagued by too many three-point shots. Williams highlighted how this is connected to the league’s obsession with analytics.
In his appearance at the “Fast Break” podcast, Williams discussed how analytics and stats can sometimes paint a misleading picture and the wrong comparison between two players, and how this connects to the decline in NBA viewership and interest.
“I think we’ve allowed science and analytics to have too much of a say and how we play this game,” Williams said. What made basketball a beautiful game is you watch two different styles of play clash and they’re being creative they’re doing things and then when you put analytics into it that puts them as the same guy. If they’re both gonna shoot ten threes a night where is that creativity?”
He then called on to the NBA and team management to bring creativity back to the league by not relying too much on analytics.
“Let’s allow our players to be creative again,” he added. “Analytics is great for a reference point but for it to be your playbook, for it to be your blueprint of how you’re going to go about things—our greatest players in the game are mid-range assassins.”
NBA Legends Criticize League State on Having “Too Many Threes”
Multiple current and retired NBA players have already raised concerns over current NBA games having too many three-point shots thrown, affecting the level of interest of fans for the games.
“Inside the NBA” host and 15-time All-Star Shaquille O’Neal stated that the overabundance of three-point shots thrown in every game makes it feel like “we’re looking at the same thing,” saying: “Everybody’s running the same plays with the damn top-of-the-key dribble handoff. I think everybody’s looking at the same thing, and Steph Curry and those guys messed it up.”
LeBron James also recently expressed his concern over the amount of three points players of the league are doing right now, which he said should be a part of a “bigger conversation.” He said: “Our game is… It’s a lot of f*****g threes being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has acknowledged this issue with the league, and has stated that they are “investigating” the matter, but refused to single out the excessive reliance on three points as the root of the issue.
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