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Comment by jimbokun | Hacker News Reader

Just read the Ringer link.

It's an interesting take. But give Jordan one or two off seasons to adapt to the modern game, and he would be a good to great 3-point shooter. The article even mentions the NBA Finals game where he made 6 threes in the first half, just because.

There are no DNA mutations between the players in the 90s and players today that made so many current NBA players better 3-point shooters. The owners and coaches favoring demanding those skill sets led to players practicing them more in order to increase their value.

(And I've considered before blogging a take on Jordan-Pippen-Rodman playing the 3-4-5 could be the core of an amazing modern small-ball line up.)

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> > The article even mentions the NBA Finals game where he made 6 threes in the first half, just because.

The 6 threes are a little weird because Portland insisted on guarding him with tons of space, essentially daring him to take what they viewed as a low-percentage shot. It's doubly weird to watch them repeatedly concede open 3s now -- it's not even a result of scrambled defensive rotations, they just watch him spot up and shoot.

I think I agree with you though. The fact that he had such a lovely midrange game suggests he'd have picked up the 3 if he tried. Plus that first step and the need to pack the paint to guard against those weird hanging double clutch layups, he would have had space to shoot too.

So I guess I'm making the tiresome argument that "your claim is probably right, but one specific bit of evidence is weak".

I mean you’re not wrong, I think it’s fair to say the three-point shooter was kind of a specialist position in that era of the NBA, which is what allowed guys like Steve Kerr to steal games in the final seconds (like he did against Utah in 97) BECAUSE nobody chased out to the perimeter, but this combined with the novelty of the Triangle Offense which exploited defenses eager to keep Mike out of the paint and kept the ball moving so that (yep, I’m going back to Phil Jackson here) “nobody felt like a spectator” just created those opportunities naturally, I think.

Game is completely different now, guys like Kerr (current all time leader) and most recently Steph Curry has made perimeter defense more important than it ever has been.

(Holy crap basketball analysis on HN, I’m loving this thread)

Heh. I also wonder if Jordan's mentality would have let him take full advantage of the 3. This is pretty much just conjecture, but it's hard for me to square staying out and playing the math on 3s with Jordan's aggression and insistence on beating people.

Now THAT is a good question!

He certainly wasn’t above taking a shot right in your face if you dilly dally’d around from the field. First time I saw Jordan just rip one off after toying around with a 20 year old Kobe Bryant struggling to keep pace, then stop dead in his tracks to put one up from what felt like MILES behind the line I knew I was watching peak basketball

I’d read that blog of yours in a heartbeat, otherwise I got nothing else to say. I agree completely with everything you’ve said here.

Although regarding mutations I dunno I think Zion Williamson might be the next player to evolve the game, or continue the evolution its been undergoing since the Golden State run.

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