Maybe It's Time to Move the Three-Point Line

[Announcer] Wearing black uniforms,

versus the San Francisco Warriors...

[Voiceover] For as long as basketball has been popular,

way before dunking was a thing,

basketball was dominated by the acrobatics

of towering players who could bring the ball to the basket

with a leap and a stretch.

Back then, there was no such thing as a three-pointer.

Players would swarm under the basket,

scrambling for two-point shots.

But in the late 70s, the three-point line was

officially adopted in pro ball,

as a way to push players away from the basket.

The line was marked out, 23 feet 9 inches

from the arc of the line, and 22 feet from the corners.

It spread the players out and made the game less of a scrap.

But for decades, the slam dunk reigned

as the number one crowd pleaser.

Not anymore. The three-pointer is the game's new star.

As basketball tactics become more technical and data driven,

players like Steph Curry are making three-pointers

their stock and trade.

The game is beginning to look very different.

Not everyone likes it.

Critics like the coach of the San Antonio Spurs argue

it's ruining the beauty of the two-point game.

Others like Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks,

want the three-point line to be moved back a few feet.

Sound crazy?

It actually wouldn't be the first time

the NBA has moved the three-point line.

In the 90s, while dunking legends like Michael Jordan

dominated the roundball, the league move the line in,

from 23 feet 9 inches to a uniform 22 feet.

Three-pointers spiked by 66% in that first year.

So, the league moved the line back,

to its original dimensions at the end of 1997.

Going further out wouldn't be easy.

Even an increase to say 25 feet would require

the league to increase the size of its courts.

Don't bet on that happening.

Instead, the game will probably change,

adapting to thread of three-point tactics.

So basketball fans better get used to

the sound of that sweet outside swish.