The 3-point shot undeniably has changed the way the NBA is played today. Blame Steph Curry, blame Klay Thompson, blame Damian Lillard.
But to Mychal Thompson, a two-time NBA champion and the father of Klay, the 3-ball isn’t enough anymore.
“Everyone is falling in love with the 3-point shot, that’s why I keep advocating for a 4-point arc,” Thompson said on KNBR’s “Murph and Mac” on Monday. “Why not the 4-point arc on the floor, 30 feet, 33 feet out and have guys with range like Damian and Klay and Steph and Bradley Beal and Devin Booker and put a 4-point line out there and add a little more excitement to the game so a six-point lead with 50 seconds to go is not a sure thing?”
The elder Thompson was more used to seeing players shine in the paint. The center typically was the star of the show back then, and kids would imitate their favorite big man’s post moves while playing with their friends at the park or during recess.
We know that's not how things are anymore. Instead, we see young children lining up from far beyond the arc putting up shots while yelling “Curry!”
Mychal Thompson admitted that shooting from beyond the arc wasn’t so common when he played from 1978 to the early ‘90s. And several decades later, that’s where he’s seeing his son thrive with the Warriors.
Although the younger Thompson's game revolves around shooting the 3-ball, the Splash Bro understands how the NBA has changed over time.
“Klay’s a basketball historian,” Mychal Thompson said. “He really understands the game and he understands the history of the game. But he’s right when he says the game has evolved to 3-point shooting. He does recognize the era of the great centers is gone, there’s no more Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinsons.
"You got a couple of Hall of Fame centers of course in [Nikola] Jokic and [Joel] Embiid, but those guys were almost like the standard back when I played -- you had so many Hall of Fame centers. But now, that player is gone. Klay understands that and he understands the game has evolved.”
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Well, if NBA commissioner Adam Silver happened to catch the interview and gets any ideas on expanding the shot options in the league, the Warriors would be in good hands with Klay and Curry's deep shooting ability.