With the increase in three-pointers, the NBA has shifted to focus on a long-distance game.
In the 1990s, NBA games had a different feel—grim, physical, and packed in around the paint. Long-range shooting was a backup plan more than a focal point, with most teams scoring through post-ups and mid-range shots.
In the 1992-93 season, teams attempted an average of nine 3-pointers per game. That number has more than quadrupled today, with teams attempting over 35 threes a game. If anyone embodies this revolution, it’s Stephen Curry.
Making the change
Growing up around the NBA, Steph had a front-row seat to the game’s progression. His father, Dell Curry, was one of the league’s elite shooters, a steady hand known for his deadly accuracy from outside.
Dell’s career spanned 15 seasons with the Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Toronto Raptors. He was considered a go-to shooter off the bench during his peak years.
Watching Dell, Steph saw firsthand the value of a good jumper. Yet even then, the game wasn’t structured around 3-point shooting. The Golden State Warriors star revealed a vague, memorable debate with his father about how drastically the game has changed in all these years.
“He [Dell] told a story about a game-winning shot that he had in Madison Square Garden,” Steph said. The way he described the play, he’s like somebody double-teamed the post and kicked it out to him on the strong side corner, and I’m like, ‘That hasn’t happened in like 12 years in the NBA’… So it wasn’t just about the game-winning shot but how it happened.”
“Not everybody is fanning out to the three-point line, and rather you try to shoot a shot in the paint for the game-winner instead. So the game has changed drastically; obviously, I’ve had a lot to do with that,” he continued.
Shooting the ball since he first held it as a kid, Steph is known for nailing shots from distances that felt unthinkable a couple of decades ago. He has perfected his trade in 3-pointers.
In the 2015-16 NBA Finals series, “Chef Curry” made a record 32 threes in seven games. The Davidson product holds three of the top five most three-pointers made in NBA Finals history and five of the top seven.
Since Steph’s arrival in the NBA, teams started to emphasize outside shooting unprecedentedly, with the league’s three-point attempts skyrocketing each season.
Embracing the new style
However, during the 1980s and 1990s, the game was controlled by dominant big men. Teams usually started with one or two centers, relying on physicality and inside scoring.
It was the era of Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Patrick Ewing. These giants dominated the paint, and teams built their offenses to run through them. Spacing was minimal, as the traditional setup clustered players close to the hoop.
“I mean, the physicality is always the one thing that everybody talks about—all the hard fouls they had back in the day,” said the four-time league MVP. It was just real, and the league adapted appropriately, but just the overall spacing. When you watch games back in the day in the 90s, at all times it looked like there was at least nine people inside the 3-point line, usually five to six people inside the paint. Just different X’s and O’s and floor spacing play calls that they did.
But today, the NBA has drifted far from this big-man dominance. Modern teams run a faster, more fluid style of play, often with lineups where every player is a threat from deep.
Big men aren’t necessarily the focal points anymore; many of today’s centers are as comfortable shooting threes as they are grabbing rebounds. The game has embraced “positionless” basketball, where players can float between roles, blurring the lines of traditional positions. It’s faster, more spaced out, and undeniably influenced by No. 30’s unique style.
