Steph drops matter-of-fact response to LeBron’s NSFW 3-point criticism originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Does the NBA have a 3-point problem? Truth be told, Steph Curry doesn’t really care.
The Warriors star sat down with ESPN’s Malika Andrews this week, who brought up LeBron James’ recent comments about NBA viewership and how the league has “a lot of f–king threes being shot.” Curry, who changed the game with his wizardry from behind the arc, doesn’t view it as an issue.
“I mean, everybody has their opinion,” Curry told Andrews. “It’s not like I can go out and do a 360 windmill and drive down the lane and dunk on somebody. So for me, I’m never going to fight 3-point shots. That’s just how I see the game. It’s how I’ve seen the game forever. But everybody has a different viewpoint and certain skill sets that have started to come into to the league. See how many bigs are dominating down on the post, and it’s kind of either extreme. And the cool part, defenses adjust. And it takes time for that to happen, so we’ll see how it goes.
“But I’m going to keep shooting threes, so don’t worry about that.”
James’ criticism came before the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, where he was asked about the 2025 NBA All-Star Game’s format switch to a four-team mini-tournament and implied the league’s problems go beyond the annual exhibition.
“I have my ideas of what could possibly work, but I’m not going to do that,” James told reporters (h/t Front Office Sports). “You got to do something. Obviously, the last couple of years have not been a great All-Star Game on Sunday night. But it’s a bigger conversation. It’s not just the All-Star Game; it’s our game in general. Our game — there’s a lot of f–king threes being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game.”
Curry, now in Year 16, is known for revolutionizing the game of basketball in a league where, prior to his arrival, there wasn’t much emphasis on the 3-point shot. Four NBA titles and a Warriors dynasty later, and many teams are following suit. The defending champion Boston Celtics are averaging 50.4 3-point attempts per game this season — far above the NBA record of 45.4 attempts per game set by the Houston Rockets in 2018-19.
But like Curry, NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes there are all kinds of skill sets on display — but he didn’t rule out remedies for the perceived issue.
“I would not reduce it to a so-called 3-point shooting issue,” Silver said last Tuesday at the NBA Cup final in Las Vegas. “I think we look more holistically at the skill level on the floor, the diversity of offense, the fan reception to the game, all of the above.
“I think the game is in a great place. I love watching the games, and I think we have some of the most skilled athletes in the world competing — and it’s unfair, I think, to the players to lump them into categories as 3-point shooters or a midrange shooter or big man playing under the basket. It’s an amazing game.
“Having said that, we’re constantly having discussions about whether there are ways to improve stylistically the game on the floor.”
There’s no telling what the NBA might look like in another 10 or 15 years, but one thing is evident about Curry: The 3-point king will continue letting it fly, no matter that anyone else says.