When Steve Kerr played in the NBA, he was known as a 3-point specialist, and a good one, at that. When he became a head coach in the league, his Golden State Warriors - led by Steph Curry- began the 3-point revolution that changed the way the game was played.
However, in a recent interview with "The New Yorker", the 5-time NBA champion player and 4-time title-winning coach admitted that he would consider removing the 3-point shot from the game of basketball to make it a more creative sport.
"I just think that the game, as it was designed, is really to create the best shots possible. That's why in the early days, you just throw it inside to the big guy. A three-point line came from the A.B.A., in 1979, and I think it was really effective. It makes for an exciting play, but the analytics revolution has created a weird situation," said Kerr.
The 3-point shot was added by the NBA in 1979 to promote offense during a low-scoring era. But what was supposed to be just an addendum to the game has become the main weapon in today's NBA because analytics dictate so.
"We all know exactly where the highest efficiency shots are: layups and corner threes, because the corner three is twenty-two feet and not 23.9, like the one above the break. You have this whole no man's land between those areas. So if you shoot a twenty-two-footer now from the top of the key, that's considered a really bad shot," Kerr added.
For context, when Kerr played his final NBA season in 2002-03, the league-wide average was 14.7 3-point attempts per game. This 2025-26 season, teams knocked down an average of 13.3 3-pointers per game.
"I just wonder—and I don't know if this would work or not—if we got rid of the three-point line, if it would diversify the way everybody would play and create a lot of different creative solutions to basketball," he added.
In 2024, experts and analysts debated about the NBA's declining TV ratings. And while that debate might feel settled, the real friction still circles around the 3-point shot, with Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal arguing the game has lost some of its excitement because everyone is doing the same thing, launching threes at every turn.
"I have a theory that it's down because we're looking at the same thing," said O'Neal on his podcast. "Everybody is running the same plays with the damn top-of-the-key dribble handoff. I think everybody's lookin' at the same thing, and Steph Curry and those guys messed it up. Like, I don't mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team's not a three-point shooter."
Curiously, Shaq talking about Steph and Golden State is just throwing the issue back to Kerr. And it's also why Steve told the New Yorker he does not plan to propose the change until Curry retires...
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
