Four Point Shot Is Coming- Seriously!!

Anyone who has followed men’s or women’s basketball is aware that the three point shot has is taking over the game. 

The ABA from 1967 to 1977 put in the three point shot. Their distance was 23’9” out top and 22’ in the corners. When the NBA and ABA merged, the NBA did include the three point shot. The NBA put the three point line the third year after the merger in 1979-80 season, using the same distances of the ABA.

The progression of the three shows up in the average number of made threes by the NBA champions. Here are the number of makes of each champions during these decades…

‘80’s- 0.8

‘90’s- 3.0

‘00’s- 5.8

‘10’s- 9.4

‘20’s- 13.7

While this may not seem like an explosion, the number of three attempts of NBA teams has gone way up. In 2026- Golden State 44 attempts, Boston 42, and New York 38. Despite a shorter game, Alabama hoisted up 36 threes per game. So some teams are taking close to 50% of their shots from threes. 

In the WNBA in a shorter game, Golden State took 30 three per game, Portland 30, New York 29. 

The philosophy of how to use the three had changed at all levels. In Illinois, the three came in during the 1987-8 season. 

In the 1990 Illinois Girls Basketball Tourney’s Final Four, in those four games, a total of 13 threes were taken. That was an average of 1.6 three attempted per teams in the Final Four. In the championship game, no three were attempted. 

In boys, in the 1990 Illinois State Tourney, each team averaged about 10 three attempts per game. This past year in the Final Four, teams averaged just under 20 threes per game. 

When it was introduced many thought the three point would be more gimmick than strategy. It has turned out the three point line has changed the game. 

The WNBA as a gimmick introduced a four point shot in their all-star game. This coming year, the Philippines Basketball Association will be instituting a four point line. 

College uses 22’1 3/4” out front, and the WNBA/NBA use 23’9” out front. The Philippines will place the four point line at 27’. So the Philippines four point line will be 3’3” farther out than the WNBA/NBA three point line. 

In the NBA, the average made three comes from 25.3 feet. The top long range shooters in the NBA are Trae Young 27.2 feet, Damian Lillard 27.4, Steph Curry 26.5, Tyrese Haliburton 26.2. (Depending on your source, these numbers can fluctuate by tenths.)

In the WNBA, Caitlin Clark 27.3 and Sabrina Ionescu 26.1 feet. 

With all the numbers that I have listed above, these are not showing the players longest threes. These are the distance of their average made three point shots. 

Maybe the 27’ line of the Philippines is a little short. Maybe the WNBA All-Star line of 28’ is more of a challenge. 

The history of basketball is a history of change. It has evolved to the point that players from the ‘30’s and ‘40’s would not recognize it. Players of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s don’t understand the change in strategies today. 

Part of the change in the use of the three point line are coaches learning and adapting to take advantage of it. Part of the change is a credit to today’s players seeing the line and working to develop their long range shot- they are better long shooters than most of the shooters of the ‘70’s. 

I don’t want a four point line, and I am not an advocate of the four point line. If I had to bet, I would bet in the next twenty years there will be a four point line. First in the pros, then in college, and finally in high school. It will continue to make the game more and more of a “guards game” and make defenders have to guard one on one.  

One thing we know for sure the rules for basketball have changed every decade since it was invented. It will continue to change. 

For those of you curious about a deeper dive into “logo threes”, you may want to read this…

Is the Logo Three a Good Shot?

Here’s a look at the history of rules changes in basketball…

Rules Changes