Dear Adam Silver:
Congratulations on the new gig! Big shoes to fill. Not literally, of course. I've seen you and David Stern standing next to each other, and I'm guessing you've never tried to put on his Air Jordans.
Look, I know you're a busy guy these days. You're set to take over as the NBA commissioner this weekend, replacing the irreplaceable Stern, who has taken this league to towering heights over the past 30 years. You probably don't have time right now for a PowerPoint-filled meeting, which is why I'm writing you this letter.
Tuck this away and feel free to read it after you meet with some guy named LeBron James. Totally understand. He apparently has some ideas for "the commish," as he calls you. Get to him first.
But I have ideas, too. HoopIdeas, you might say. And today's HoopIdea is one that would make the game more exciting.
This HoopIdea has special significance for Thursday night, when the Clippers and Warriors play on TNT. The game should be great theater. One reason? It showcases three of the game's premiere long-ball specialists: Stephen Curry, Jamal Crawford and Jordan Crawford.
You know what I love about these guys? They have parking-lot range, pulling up occasionally from way downtown. And fans love it. Did you see Jamal Crawford's 33-footer on Wednesday night? It's at the 40-second mark in this highlight reel. It's amazing.
In a game full of Goliaths, this is David's slingshot. But they don't take that slingshot out of their back pocket very often. Not nearly enough. Why? Because there's no incentive to showcase their talents with the current rules. Why take a 33-footer when a 23-footer yields the same number of points? Basically, we're telling them to not use this particular skill. Let's encourage these long balls. We should see more of them. They display basketball talent at its finest. As fans, part of the allure of sports is that we witness human beings doing things we could never do. Like the greatest dunks, these shots define NBA players as the greatest athletes in the world. You're a progressive thinker, Adam. You want what's best for basketball. So here's my HoopIdea to take the NBA to the next level: You should introduce the 4-point line. I know what you're thinking. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? I hear that, but let's not settle. I subscribe to the HoopIdea mantra: Basketball is the best game ever. Now let's make it better. The 4-point line would make the game better. Haven't you noticed that the court is feeling increasingly cramped with all these monster bodies? Somehow, the NBA court dimensions haven't been updated since World War II even though the average player is 25 pounds heavier and 3 inches taller than in the 1950s. That's 250 pounds of extra muscle on the floor, and 10 men are still playing in the same box. Does that make any sense? With rigorous year-round workout regimens, players are bigger than ever, stronger than ever, faster than ever. As luck would have it, there aren't any Shaquille O'Neals and Yao Mings in the game now, but we do have a 7-foot-2 guy tweeting videos of himself deadlifting 420 pounds over and over. The reigning MVP is the size of Karl Malone, but plays with the speed of John Wall and the skilled grace of Steve Nash. These guys are giants and only getting larger. If you're not ready to widen the court, then at the very least add the 4-point arc. (Regarding the width of the court, though: simple geometry suggests a larger perimeter of a rectangle means more courtside seats, not fewer.) Though I'd prefer the 4-point arc to extend to the corners, I can accept the 4-point arc to hit the out-of-bounds sideline by the coach's box hash mark. Increasingly, space is at a premium, but space is what fuels the game. The rise of the 3-pointer has been a boon to the game, not just because of all the great shooters, but because of all the space it creates. You need space to dunk. You need space to see the floor. You need space to run, jump and do the things that make basketball unique compared to any other sport. When there's space, that's when the magic happens. Open up the game and add a 4-point line that would spread the floor and help facilitate all the plays that make fans keep coming back. I get it: People hate change. It's part of what makes us human. At the same time, people love to see things get better. That's why this HoopIdea works: It makes the game better. The 3-point line was one of the best things to happen to the NBA. If you remember, folks were wildly against that innovation at first. Coaches initially thought it was a gimmick and rarely utilized it. In the inaugural season of the 3-point line in the NBA back in 1979-80, the average team took just 2.8 3-pointers per game. That's it. In the second season, it dropped to 2.0 3-pointers. Teams barely shot them at a 25 percent clip. Basketball people were nervous at first. But the long ball opened up the game, added a fascinating layer of strategy, and made the NBA more entertaining. Really, it was never a gimmick. Shooting from long distance is a fundamental basketball skill that should be rewarded and encouraged to its fullest extent. From a philosophical standpoint, there's no reason we shouldn't have players display their basketball talents as much as they can. Now the question becomes, where do you put the 4-point line? This is where the math comes in. The 4-point line needs to be placed at a distance where teams still have to weigh the costs and benefit of taking a 4-pointer versus a 3-pointer versus a 2-pointer. We don't want the distance so short that the game devolves into a 4-point shooting contest. That's not the right solution. It probably wouldn't even be fun over 48 minutes. We have to strike a balance. Finding that statistical equilibrium is tricky, but after researching the league's shooting percentages, I believe that a 4-point arc at about 28 feet makes the most sense. Over the past three seasons (including this season), players have shot 23 percent from 28-32 feet, according to NBA StatsCube data. So if we make a 28-foot shot worth four points, that's effectively paying off the same as shooting 46 percent on 2-pointers. That's a little below the current value of 3-pointers, which is important, because we want to protect the significance of the 3-point line. So putting the line at about 28 feet makes a 4-pointer valuable but maintains the value of 2-pointers and 3-pointers, as well, providing coaches and players with another strategic option. At first there were very few players who were good at 3s. That would probably be the same case with 4-pointers, at first. Curry, the Crawfords and Damian Lillard would be the pioneers, staking out new territory on the perimeter. But they wouldn't be alone out there for long. Players would adapt (as many of them already shoot long jumpers on the practice court), expanding their range and becoming more proficient from 4-point range. If 4-pointers evolve like 3-pointers, players won't be shooting 23 percent for long. Coaches will adapt, too, just as they have adjusted to the 3-point line. How good can shooters get from there? It's hard to say with certainty, but it likely will be harder to master than the 3-pointer, which has topped out at about 36 percent overall. We'll probably see some players who get really excited but have no business shooting from that far out (see: Josh Smith). Those guys will help keep the 4-point percentage at a reasonable mark. Adam, you've been around the league long enough to know that players love shooting from very far away. Teammates have half-court contests after NBA practices, and the half-court shot is an official part of All-Star Weekend now. In warm-ups before games, players often unfurl 30-footers to get the juices flowing and wow the crowd. It's fun. It's challenging. It's fascinating. There have been ad campaigns around the spectacle and teams regularly tweet their players shooting from deep. When there's space, that's where the magic happens. Open up the game and add a 4-point line that would spread the floor and help facilitate all the plays that make fans keep coming back. And here is one big benefit from this HoopIdea: It would help eradicate a creeping issue in the sport, which is when players hold the ball rather than shoot it before the buzzer. This drives me and other fans crazy, because players should always be trying to score. This is one of the coolest parts of the game and the league essentially discourages it. Players don't want to hurt their field goal percentages when the payoff is worth only three points. Make it four points and you'll see players more willing to launch them. Put it this way: It's not good that the Miami Heat have taken only two shots this season from behind the half-court stripe. They've swallowed almost every opportunity to score in those situations, just to preserve their field goal percentage. Make it worth it for the players. Also, this will make the end of the game more compelling. A late four-point deficit would become a one-possession game -- not a drawn-out foul fest that makes our eyeballs bleed. And a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter wouldn't be a reason to change the channel. I understand the concerns, beyond making Antoine Walker upset that he wasn't born later. We don't want the NBA to turn into a "Rock N' Jock" circus act. But many thought that would be the case with the 3-point line, and instead we've learned that players showcasing their skills is a good thing, not a bad thing. We're not adding a 30-foot high basket or a 10-point hot spot on the floor. Save that for the novelty acts. Not totally on board with the 4-point line? Test it out in the NBA lab called the D-League. See how it sticks. And when you watch Thursday's action with Curry and the Crawfords, imagine the 4-pointer. This is your NBA, Adam. You're going to be the man to take us into the future. Basketball is the best game ever. Now let's make it better. Sincerely fours, Tom HaberstrohMaking a better game
Innovation is good
It'll make the game more fun