What NBA legend Phil Jackson had to say about Steve Kerr’s proposal of eliminating three-point line

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Steve Kerr’s radical idea about the NBA’s three-point line has now drawn a response from Phil Jackson.

Kerr has never been afraid to question where modern basketball is heading, and his latest comments went straight at the sport’s biggest tactical shift.

The Warriors coach suggested that the three-point line has pushed the game into a predictable pattern built around layups and corner threes.

That concern has now reached one of the most decorated coaches in league history. Jackson did not fully dismiss Kerr’s point, but he offered a different fix.

Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Steve Kerr questions whether the NBA needs a three-point line

As shared by TheNBABase on X, Kerr argued that analytics have narrowed the way teams search for efficient shots.

Kerr’s point was not about adding more scoring gimmicks. In fact, he said he would not support a four-point line and would rather consider removing the three-point line entirely.

The game used to be about creating the best possible shot in different ways, whether through post play, movement, mid-range creation or spacing. But the modern NBA has become heavily tilted toward shots at the rim and corner threes.

That has left the long two-pointer, especially from the top of the key, feeling almost useless in many offensive systems.

Kerr wondered whether removing the line could force teams to become more creative again, creating different styles instead of every offense chasing the same mathematical advantages.

Phil Jackson offers a different three-point line solution

Reacting to Kerr’s answer, Phil Jackson on X suggested changing the court instead of removing the line.

“15 years, I’ve been asking the NBA rules committee to widen the court apron. Corner shot [becomes] 23.9,” the legendary NBA coach wrote.

Jackson’s idea targets the same issue Kerr raised, but in a more specific way. The corner three is shorter than the above-the-break three, which makes it one of the most valuable shots in basketball.

By widening the court, the NBA could push the corner three back to the same distance as other threes. That would reduce its built-in advantage without removing the shot entirely.

It is a classic Jackson response. Instead of scrapping the three-point line, he wants the league to fix the geometry that has made the corner such a cheat code.

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