Sportress of Blogitude

Gregg Popovich bashes exaggerated importance of three-point shot in NBA

Gregg Popovich on Monday sarcastically bashed the exaggerated importance of the three-point shot in the modern NBA, calling the philosophy “not real basketball. As happenstance would have it, the San Antonio Spurs head coach’s takedown interestingly came on the same night history was made in relation to the very same aspect of the game.

Pop weighed in on the over-reliance of three-pointer by many NBA teams ahead of the San Antonio Spurs’ 113-108 win over the Dallas Mavericks, as relayed by The Dallas Morning News’ Eddie Sefko.

As noted, the curmudgeonly Spurs head coach’s savage remarks on most NBA teams’ over-reliance on firing up shots from beyond the arc came on the same night Klay Thompson set a league record for most converted three-pointers in a game by draining 14 of them in the Golden State Warriors’ 149-124 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

That said, it goes without saying that Popovich has never been shy about calling things as he sees them, even if it goes against the grain of conventional thinking or accepted league norms.

As Pop, as old-school as they come, mentioned himself, though, the emphasis on the three-point shot is the entrenched status quo now in the NBA. Further, it’s not like the league can stuff the dominance of the three-pointer back in today’s game back in the proverbial Pandora’s Box. Let’s just hope Pop’s sarcastic comments about 4- and 5-point shots don’t gain a philosophical foothold, though.