Draymond Green caused quite a stir when he proclaimed that the NBA was becoming boring because of the rise of three-point shooters. Most fans raised their eyebrows at him, seeing as his teammate caused the revolution. But Suns legend Eddie Johnson agreed with Green, and in an X post, pointed out why he thought players were being too robotic.
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After claiming that the 2016 DPOY was “100% right,” Johnson explained how the NBA has lost its diversity.
He said coaches have resorted to using a certain number of plays they know guarantee success. He called out the dependence on the pick-n-roll, saying, “We run one play 95% of the time. Pick and Roll, pick and space, pick and target. Off the ball plays are non existent. Players are being used like robots.”
He also took offense to the ‘3-and-D’ tag given to players and claimed that this rise in outside shooting has taken the physicality out of the game. He ended by calling himself a “ball player” while saying, “3 and D, what the heck is that. I was a ball player.”
Johnson also lamented the overall creativity that off-ball players provided to the league in the 1990s and 2000s.
Draymond is 100% right. We run one play 95% of the time. Pick and Roll, pick and space, pick and target. Off the ball plays are non existent. Players are being used like robots and given a title, 3 and D, what the heck is that. I was a ball player. The physicality is gone, https://t.co/PaJS0piah6
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) February 16, 2025
Of course, Draymond Green and Johnson aren’t the first players to call out the rise in 3s, and definitely won’t be the last. LeBron James had a few words on the current state of the game as well, and he spoke to the media about it in December.
LeBron James criticized the current state of the NBA
After the revisions to the All-Star Game were announced, there was some confusion around the league about how it would help with the spectacle of the game as a whole. James was one of them, and when speaking to Dave McMenamin, he had a rather scathing indictment to give.
“Our game, there’s a lot of f—ing 3s being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game,” he said.
Of course, he had a few opinions of his own to “improve” the game, but he declined to share with the assembled reporters. He also added that change would take time and that there would be some pushback till the whole thing was implemented.
LeBron James, when asked about changes to the NBA All-Star Game format, touched on more issues with the league: “Our game, there’s a lot of f—ing 3s being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game” pic.twitter.com/weKJVSyXfB
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 19, 2024
“I have my ideas on what could possibly work, but yea, I’m not gonna… we gotta do something,” he joked. What are James’ ideas? Perhaps we’ll never know. But if one of the game’s greatest ever players thinks there’s some issue with the current landscape, then it may be time for some major changes.
