How GOOD or BAD Was Michael Jordan's 3 Point Shooting?
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- Опубліковано 24 січ 2025
- An analysis on the 3 Point Shooting of Michael Jordan.
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Was MJ a bad, decent or great 3 point shooter?
Overall a bit bellow decent (terrible in the 80s, good one in the 90s)
But he could have for sure became a good one if he needed
Not really good if you look at all his numbers throughout the 80s before the shortern three point line he had terrible percentages.
Yes in the 90s his three point percentage was good but that was due to the three point line being shorten allowing him to shoot better he also had less attempts than even some of the best shooters in the 90s.
Also the fact that his percentage was ok in the playoffs sure but his overall three point attempts wasn’t even that high at 2.5 which is the reason why he had an average of 33.2 percent.
Also the fact that yes he did have a high percentage in the finals but his attempts weren’t even that high and very low.
If you compare Kobe attempts in the finals it’s way more higher if you compare kyrie finals stats it’s way higher, I don’t really think he is a good three point shooter at all
I think like the rest of his shooting he was above average and if he would have practiced the shot more he would be around 36-38% career shooter.
and i saw a few MJ shots beyond the 3-point line as a last-second hail mary...
It was enough
I mean good enough
Watching his 88-89 seasons he was essentially Steph of the midrange
Really wish we had advanced midrange stats back further than 97…
One legend comment on other legend video.
Guys, my absolute respect to both of you .
88-90, pre-championship MJ was his absolute peak with shooting combined with elite athleticism
88-89 he was Demar Derozen at best
@@jeoffreywoolley5075 Jordan was much better than your favorite player ever was lol
He was ok during regular seasons, but could somehow become a good 3 point shooter during playoff runs. Shit made no sense lol
In all his years with the bulls he shot 33.2%, in the playoffs he shot 33.2%. At least he was consistent I guess
@Croc1579 true, but he still had sum great 3 point shooting series in his career and shot good from 3 in multiple nba finals
🐐
That's What he did in General..
Some people have a 10 or 11 here. When playoffs or finals came, MJ had a few more even than the best had. He could just find an extra level..
Playoff mode activated
He didn't practice it and was at league average.
That's not a weakness in my book.
you have no idea what he was practicing lol
It's not that he is not practicing.... It was because he was not shooting enough .. look at his 3pt% and his "attempts" in the 89-90
Then look at his first four seasons and how many attempts he did
@@JS-xu1so he said it himself in an interview.
@digitalian99 He didn't practice 3s, and it showed...
@@quirinogarza7381 "He didn't practice 3s, and it showed..." -- what showed?
it seems you did not even understand what i wrote
There's nothing more I love in a basketball debate than when someone actually uses context to argue their points. At base value, Jordan was a terrible 3-pt shooter, but with context, he was above average, and in the finals specifically, he was better than Lebron and Kobe.
He was %36 averaging 1,1 makes in finals. Lebron was %35 averaging 1,8 makes in finals. How that better?
@@1vaultdweller Didn't u hear and watch. MJ was better when the games mattered the most. He was better than Kobe, Lebron and Kyrie on the game's biggest stage by a mile. MJs critics choose to ignore this facts.
@@1vaultdweller idk, maybe watch the video instead of rushing to the comments.
@@YUHWAHN Which is a weak point. MJ's finals opponents were 10 times worse at defending the perimeter. They camped in paint and sagged off the 3 point line all night long
@@1vaultdweller was it MJ fault? I' ll wait.
Here is an interesting fact, MJ was the last player in NBA history to score 3,000 points in a season, 3,041 to be exact. He only hit 12 (3-pt) shots, and he won the scoring title with a 37.1 average. The only player to come close to this since is, Kobe Bryant, with 2832 points. Kobe hit on 180 (3-pt) shots. The truth of the matter is, MJ did not need a (3-pt) shot. Instead of the (3-pt) shot becoming a part of the NBA, it has become the NBA. We now determine a player's worth on his ability to make this shot, and downplay players that shoot a mid range shot. Sad. (I was in error when I said James Harden came close to the 3,041 when it was Kobe the was a little closer!)
That's why people say he woulda avg 50ppg today.
I doubt it would be that high but if Jordan had made that many 3's in his 37.1ppg season as harden did then it puts him in the 42ppg range which isn't that far fetched of an idea just turning 4-5 of his 2 pointers into 3's each game.
I've always suggested he would avg 43pog today at peak scoring Jordan yet kobe is the one we should be asking that question about as his 35ppg season came at a time with much slower pace a less possessions and teams scoring mid 90's.
Kobe could do 45ppg easily today.
@@MJIZZEL Great point!
@@aturner3246 mid range masters are probably the most beautiful players to watch. Unfortunately unless you’re making them at a staggering rate, you’re not going to outperform a 3 point maestro
@@reecenorwood8377 Very true, but the percentages would more than likely be a little better. I think the overall 2 pt shot percentage is 40%. Three point shot average is 36.6%. Passing up a 2 pt shot to shoot a lower percentage 3 pt shot seems counter productive. Your thoughts?
@ if they’re taken at close to the same volume then no. If you take 50 2s and 50 3s and make them at those rates, you would make 20 2s or 40 points and 18ish 3s or 54 points. That’s why 40% is the golden standard for elite 3 point shooters. It makes non shooters have to make shots at alarmingly high rates
What people fail.to mention is during MJs eras we had ROLE PLAYERS. Mike didnt have to shoot threes because he had guys on the team, whose specific job was to knock down threes. Namely, BJ armstrong and steve kerr. The same could be said for rebounds and rim protection, that was rodmans and horace grants job. Mikes job was to slash to the basket and score/create plays/breakdown the defense. Scottys role was to fill in the holes when needed. If MJ is shooting volume threes what does steve kerr do? Hes not getting to the basket thats for sure. The current nba doesnt have roles, its just shoot in volume and your bound to get hot.
People say players are way better all around but i always think of the term good at everything, master of nothing. People try to point to the best players like steph and say the whole league is better at shooting when only few players should be shooting that far that often
@dyloiris8876 i agree, thats why over the last 20 yeard there are no leaders in separate categories. No standouts with assists, no standouts with rebounds, blocks, steals.
😂😂,sad, but true.
@@dyloiris8876 and the reality is that, yes they are better, but literal 1-2% better in average... they abandoned all other aspects of the game (defense mainly) in order to get 2% better at 3pts. That's why todays league is so boring to watch, it's just a bunch of tiktokers trading 3s.
Celtics have a very effective strategy and mathematically it works
KD said it best. Mike was one of the BEST jump shooters of all time... Not just 3s, but SHOOTING. This dude was a midrange assassin
Whenever I hear Jordan talk I am always amazed at how well spoken he is, even when you show early clips of when he was new in the NBA and in his first seasons. Not a spoiled brat, not some gangster from the hood crap, simply a well brought up and educated young man who went on to become the best basketball player in the history of the game.
Honestly that seems to be the case with most old school basketball players. Like even a douchebag dunce like Charles Barkley (I love Chuck FYI) comes off a more well spoken than most guys now
Here we go again. Jonny creating unbiased and informed content and injecting it into our polarizing and toxic nba forum.
I can't say for sure since I didn't see all of his 3 points attempts, but his early years' 3 points probably came as last second shots wirh no choice otherwise which explains the terrible percentage with low volume.
yea its interesting, his 3pt% has an extreme positive correlation with his attempts. Most guys are the opposite.
Remember that he didnt play with a 3pt line until joining the NBA so it was a brand new shot for him. 90-93 is an interesting range to look at. In 90 and 93 he was at 3 attempts a game shooting ~36%, but in 91 and 92 he was back down closer to 1 attempt a game shooting
@@kevinjohnson4498
Usually, more attempts increase percentage.
High volume every game, the percentages don't have wild swings one way or the other. One bad game will have much less impact on overall %.
Taking only 2 game, the percentage will have wild swings game to game. One bad game has far greater impact on overall percentage.
And in practical basketball play...if you take more, you are practicing more. Therefore you should be comfortable finding a rhythm.
I always appreciate the nuance and context that you add to your videos. You're helping turn casual fans into knowledgable ones. This is my 34th season watching NBA basketball and your videos have taught me things that I overlooked or wasn't even aware of.
I think this is a great video, and I also believe that Michael answered this question many years ago when he said he was as good of a three-point shooter as he decided to be.
If everyone on the planet were this objective and willing to analyze context and errors as you did, I don’t think the GOAT debate would even exist. People should reason based on objective criteria, but since most people can’t agree on the same ones, questions about whether MJ was as good or as flawed as some of us remember will always come up-even in regard to his three-point shooting.
Your explanation makes complete sense to anyone, even with a basic understanding, but I think many will always choose to ignore reasoning to avoid being wrong and they prefer to raise their voices repeating stuff they hear from some questionable “experts”!
You also have to consider that back then a planned 3pt shot wasn't used often...many of MJs early attempted 3s were awkward, highly contested, defended, tough, clock beating shots... last effort attempts to tie or go ahead when double teamed. He was never really a planned play 3pt shooter player...and even then, it was like 1 or 2 attempts per game.
Good point.
Yeah, no one was scheming the 3pt shot like they do today. It was a gimmick.
Yep ...and they weren't protecting %....if there was time left, the shot was going up, didn't matter if it was 24ft or 60ft....granny shot or hook shot
One of yhe things i hate the most about the Curry-effect? Using 3pt% as a gotcha to guys who played 30+ years ago.
Dead giveaway for someone that just started watching ball within the last decade which isn't that long when you really talk hoop.
Another ammunition against MJ is that he participated in the 1990 3pt contest and tied the record w/ Detlef Schrempf (1988) for fewest points in a round w/ five. Interestingly, that was also the only year in which Larry Bird was eliminated w/ 13 first round points (sources: Celticsblog, Orlando Sentinel, UPI), as well as the beginning of Craig Hodges' three-peat.
Thank God ... FULL CONTEXT!
He also didn't have a 3pt line until college, ad even in college it wasn't widely used and wasn't used at all in the tournament. It wasn't adopted throughout all of college until 1987 or 1988. That interview clip also turned out to be kind prophetic too since there are a lot of guys that can shoot the 3 pretty well but aren't as great of a scorer from inside the arc compared to outside of it.
I don’t think he had a three point line in college or would’ve been his junior year before joining the nba
@@night6724 His Basketball_Reference page for college has 3pt stats for him for his sophomore year, and he shot 44.7% on 2 attempts per game albeit with a shorter line than the pros. Back then the 3pt line wasn't universal in college and only some conferences used it. It not being universal is why it wasn't used in the tournament.
He was a good three-point shooter, and when he attempted 3 or more, he was around the league average. Similar to Kobe. Bron shoots below the league average. There is the difference. It's all about volume, the era and how you stack up vs your peers.
He is literally statistically one of the worst 3p shooters of all time. Literally Giannis/Westbrook level. Lowest score in a 3p contest all time. Dude was a TERRIBLE 3p shooter
@gggyy7104 Did you even watch the video?
@@gggyy7104do you realise Jordan has a better % from 3 in the finals than lebron and kobe? 😂😂😂 and the two seasons he shot over 2.5 threes a game he made 37% and 35%, above league average.
@@Carvis23 Yeah, and in no universe was Jordan a “solid 3p shooter”. Only with the shortened line
@@user-mh6nm5mv4b The shortened line doesn’t count. Without the shortened line, he was at 29% for his career
MJ was a good to above average 3pt shooter.
Whenever he attempted 2+ 3pt shots per game he was above average and was a super solid 3pt shooter.
The philosophy of the game in the 80’s was not to incorporate the 3. In the 90’s when the game was a little more open minded to the 3 MJ adapted to the 3 and excelled at it.
MJ had great great elite shooting mechanics, and had a great great elite shooting touch!
Like we try to tell you youngins MJ had ZERO holes & weaknesses in his game. ZERO flaws! Good to Elite in all aspects of the game
He wasn't a great 3poit shooter.
But he decent enough to not matter regardless the era he played (because let's be real that's what's all about).
And he could definitely become a good one if he needed.
Context: It’s also easier to shoot 3’s today because of the rule set( freedom of movement, no hand check, able to carry the ball to create space).
And ...they are actively looking for that shot first and second.
In Jordans day, it was a bailout or last resort for a good chunk of his career, especially Early.
I feel like that works more for off-the dribble shots which granted are a huge part of a lot of great players game. But typical spot up shooting which is foundational in today’s game is unchanged by rules.
And allowed to take 33%-50% more steps after picking up the ball to get that space.
To me it's more impressive to make a shot while having more strict rules.
Michael’s three point shot is such revisionist history. The three wasn’t important to nba back then and he didn’t need it to be the nba’s greatest scorer of all time
Exactly. Your thoughts are pretty in line with what I was saying towards the end of the video, how they’re viewing MJ through the lens of 2024 Basketball. Not EVERYONE has to be a 3 point shooter, but unfortunately that’s the simplistic take of the casual fan in 2024.
Dope vid Johnny
Jordan was good enough from three to where you couldn't leave him open once he was in his prime during the early 90s.
He shot like 38% during the entire playoffs from 1991-1993, which is mainly regarded as his peak during his championship years. This was also the highest volume he shot for the most part.
Low volume is mainly what hurts Jordan's 3pt percentages, where every miss knocks a lot more off your overall shooting percentages. When that's the case, end of clock heaves and desperation shots will impact your numbers more.
That MJ quote talking about having a driving mentality vs spotting up is key. I think the NBA needs to do anything it can to incentivize stars taking it to the hoop. I like the 3pt line as a constraint to keep defenses honest, but I don't like it when the 3pt shot is the most important shot, especially when it is still not as consistent as a layup or dunk at the rim.
I think fouls on 3pt shots should only be 2 fts. I think the court should be widened so that a corner 3 pt shot is not shorter than other 3pt shots. You mention how they shortened the 3pt shot in the 90s, but the corner 3 is still shorter than any other 3pt shot. We don't call that out at all.
Love this! I'm a big MJ fan for life yet still learning different aspects of his greatness. Thanks Jonny as always
Honestly, for Michael Jordan‘s time he didn’t even really need a three-point shot for his game or for how the NBA as played back then. When he did start taking threes, like for example, 28% in his time means you could shoot, but nowadays 28% today doesn’t mean you can shoot. For his time he was a average shooter, and a decent shooter he needed to be. He also didn’t have to be a shooter, because teams didn’t rely on shooting threes as much as they do now but I still think Michael Jordan is an underrated shooter and capable of hitting threes if he really worked on it and if he got a chance to, in the set of the team schemes and game plans. It was still nice to see that he made the three-point contest too, even though he had the lowest score ever.
One more thing about MJ's 3p%. Because MJ wasn't a volume 3p shooter and took very few attempts per game, a lot of these shots were forced shots at the end of the clock, which mess up his %. If a person who shoots 10 3s a night takes these shots, they won't affect the % too much, but for MJ who took less than 2 attempts per game, it makes a difference
Haven’t watched the video yet but I believe he’s an underrated 3 point shooter I don’t think he was never bad and I actually think he was great for his time.
Great analysis I 100% agree I think he’s a great shooter overall and a good 3 point shooter
Great vid as usual...you made all the points, i totally agree with you...and by the way how in the world can random people or media say that Michael f... Jordan is a bad three point shooter ?
Great video! The problem is the data surrounding his 3pt shooting falls under so many different contexts that makes it hard to nail down. It also means you can't just take his 3pt shooting percentage at face value like we do now. He came into the league without ever playing with a 3pt line and averaged less than one shot, usually as a last minute toss to win/tie games, and had abysmal 3pt shooting percentages for like the first 5-6 seasons of his career because of it.
His best 3pt shooting came when the league shortened the 3pt line so many people like to, and probably not wrong to, throw out those years.
And so because the rest of his career he didn't really take many 3s it's so hard to get to an idea of what he would like shooting the 3 today in volume.
I think there are two seasons in his career that help shed light into what he would be however. Other than the league shortened season there are only two seasons he averaged over 2.5 attempts a game. In his 89-90 season he averaged 3 3PAs a game and shot 37%. In 92-93 he shot 2.9 3PAs a game and averaged 35% from the beyond the arc.
I also tried to narrow games down where he shot 4 3pters or more a game and in those games he averaged like 38-39% but I couldn't filter out the years where the line was shortened so there is some questionable data in it.
I honestly believe though based on the data around his two highest volume shooting non 3pt line shortened seasons, his average in games where he took 4 or more 3pters a game, and his other shooting metrics that if he grew up with the 3pt line he would probably be a career 36-38% 3pt shooter in today's league.
Yeah you are right and i would also add that its a pretty much surefire assumption when MJ took around 1 threepoint attempt per game (which includes last seconds shot) he didnt pratice it at his training sessions because why would he have done it if it was almost non existing in his game? But when he mad 3.0 and 2.9 attempts per game in 89-90 (37.6%)and 92-93 (35.2%) you can be sure he was praticing it aswell at his training sessions. That shows us if Jordan had emphasized 3s more at his training sessions he would have been at least a decent 3 point shooter. at least 35-36% efficiency
Btw LEbron in his first 8 years already shot 4 attempts per game from 3s which means he consistenty practiced it at his training sessions despite of that he barely reached 33%. And Lebron is famous of being a bad shooter especially from midrange.
I believe there is a hard connection between midrange shots and 3s.
We can see players who are good from midrange they are good at 3s aswell, like KD, Kawhi, CP3, Booker,etc. or players who were good at midranges then transfered their game to the 3 point line became good 3 point shooters like Serge Ibaka. So do we really think Jordan who was a killer from midrange wouldnt have been good at 3s if he transfered his game there? This is what he has just shown us with his 3 attempts per game. I dont mind the Jordan criticism for example he was an asshole with his teammates but criticising his efficiency from 3s based on only his all time stat without context is just not fair. Thats why i dont feel a legitimate critic.
I have a great idea for a follow up video to this. It should thoroughly debunk the idea that Jordan was not a good 3 point shooter. I would simply post it but it would be too long. If you want all the information so you could put it in video form I would be happy to give it to you. Just let me know
I appreciate it!! Thank you so much for the 20 too! That means a lot to me and my family :)
As far as the 3 point info, that sounds awesome and youve got me curious, so feel free to DM me on Twitter/X or on Instagram if you have either of those.
@ i sent a message on instagram
not sure if you got it
@@jonnyarnett i sent you a message on instagram but im not sure you saw it
i have the information ready for you if you want it
@@jonnyarnett I have the data finished if you want it. I tried to message you on instagram but I'm not sure if you got it. It lays out a pretty strong case for Jordan being much better than people think.
Great video, Jonny! I appreciate the nuance and context you bring to your argument and points. It is incredible how he was better in the playoffs (esp. The Finals) than the regular season. It makes sense though, given how he stepped up his game when it mattered most.
I'd say he was a decent 3 point shooter overall, but when the game was on the line, he sunk the most crucial 3 point shots and was a good 3 point shooter at critical moments.
Awesome video again. Have a nice day, Jonny 😊!
MJ was just a natural in basketball
Jordan was good at whatever he wanted to be.
His true 3point shot was the 2and1, which was more devastating, coz he was a pretty good free throw shooter, and got opposing big man and guards into foul trouble constantly. Thats why he said (i think) what he said in the interview, and subsequently choose not to include the 3pointer in his game at a high volume.
The notion that he's a bad three-point shooter I think is definitely overblown. I made me have the fundamentals of the mechanics to where if he really wanted to focus on it. He definitely could have excelled at the three-point game. But like you pointed out at the time he was playing that definitely was not something that he would have even wanted to focus on. So I think he could have been average to maybe a little above average
He made them when it matters
When you the goat they gotta exaggerate any perceived weaknesses.
Thank u so much for this
He was fine at threes. Didn't matter, he went for the higher percentage shots. Something they once taught in basketball. When basketball was actually played.
He’s still shot a good percentage if u left him open he would make u pay. He said he didn’t care about that aspect of his game because he wanted to be more efficient towards the basket
1 three point a game is an important and significantly note. The higher someone shoots the better the percentage in most cases. Also it 3 pointers where introduced in 79-80 season, so they took time to really take off and implement.
What I remember about Jordan is that, he was hitting them at insane rate when his team needed it the most...no moment was to big for this dude... Growing up as a MJ hater, today I can say he's The Best basketball player ever.. grace, skill, stats aside.. watching him play against your team, you could never relax until the game was over.. never had that feeling with any other player except for Kobe between 06-2010 and I wasn't a Kobe fan either..
His 3 pt percentage drastically rose as his attempts rose. Your percent wildly fluctuates if your not taking many.
I don't value volume 3pt shooting in my star. I value driving, penetrating the defense, and then being able to kick out. I do see the value in being able to keep defenses honest with a decent 3pt shot, but mostly, I want my star handling the ball and getting the defense in rotation.
When stars pressure the rim, then their 3pt shooting doesn't matter as much. Giannis doesn't need a 3pt shot. Zion doesn't need a 3pt shot. That is something you need more when you can't drive as well. Lebron shoots more 3s now when he can't drive as well as he used to.
1) Plays were run for the post or for the midrange. The three-point line was only five seasons old in Jordan's rookie year. Three-point attempts were minimal, and were often called bad shots especially during transition plays. Players would run to the basket for lay-ups/dunks on the break, instead of running to the corner for the three. Anyone jacking up a three-point shot early in the shot clock instead of running the ball to the post would get an earful from the coach.
2) Jordan's game was predicated on slashing to the basket and mid-range jumpers. Even up to the first championship seasons (as appropriately referenced in the video), Jordan did not build his game around long-range shooting. By his own admission, it would take away his aggression and effectiveness on pressuring wing and rim defenders.
3) The three-point shot was a specialty shot during that period to open up the lane. Larry Bird famously said that less athletic players had to become shooters so that they can impact the game.
4) Jordan only took three-point shooting seriously when he returned from his first retirement, as his first step was no longer as explosive. He also worked on his post game/turn-around jumper.
5) The narrative around Jordan's poor shooting is often drawn from his horrible performance in the only three-point shootout he joined during All-Star weekend.
6) Jordan was an adequate three-point shooter but opposing teams would rather have him shoot the lower percentage shot than have him humiliate them at the rim. The three may be greater than the two, but a sure two is much better than a tough three.
He might not have been a great three point shooter, but, and this is pure speculation, of course, he might have been if he had chosen to. It is mind-boggling how people will take any stat and then ignore all context of that stat and compare it to modern players. Also, stats never tell the whole story.
His first 4 seasons where he shot
Michael actually said it already why he didn't shoot 3's in a video he said "it takes away from his all around game"
Anybody who has watched Wizards Jordan (frustratingly) knows just how many 2pointers he made from one step inside the three point line.
Late, but here. Interesting topic, maybe you can do about Russell's offense, Magic's defense and or Shaq's ft line. MJ was good from 3, but it is pointless when he was winning big at some point and the Bulls were the team to beat in the 90's, with his "humble" contribution. If it is not broken, dont fix it.
The 3 point shot was made popular by players that didn't want to take the everyday hits of driving to the hole
Decent for his era.
Which means it was bad
@@willemcenter8649 why does there have to be good or bad? Why can’t you just be OK?
@@willemcenter8649 it means it was bad to you because you want to be cynical for whatever reason instead of taking things for what they are in the context of their time. A graphics processor on a PS2 is technically "worse" than a graphics processor on a PS5, if the only thing you care about is how realistic a video game looks. But it doesn't mean it was any less effective at conveying iconic moments and classic aesthetics from legendary games.
MJ was objectively bad from 1984-1985 to 1992-1993 he shot 30.1 from 3 and in 1997-1998 he shot 23.8 from 3 im obviously not including 1994-1995 to 1996-1997 because the 3 point line was shortened between that stint which lead to his 3 point percentage being much higher then what it should have been
@@Kendricktimes2 Did you even watch the video?
He was objectively bad until 1988
He was objectively better than average (so not bad) after 1988
Based on the stats and footage, MJ was a solid 3-point shooter throughout his career. The fact that his average in the finals was so high at over 40% should say it all.
An additional point that adds to this is that if you look at the stats carefully, his 3p% and his 3pt attempts per season both almost perfectly coincide, so his 3p% got better whenever he attempted more, and that's with or without the decreased 3pt line seasons.
A skill isn't a weakness if the more you exploit it it gets better.
Michael Jordan is literally the greatest mid-range shooter in NBA history. shot tracking from the 90s has his mid-range FG% around 49-51% which is comparable to KD except MJ was shooting mid-range shots at a ridiculously high volume. so do we really think that someone that good at mid/deep 2-point shots would not be able to extend his range by 1 or 2 feet if he really tried? of course not. in his own words, he didn't want to be a good 3-point shooter as he believed it didn't suit his play style. if he wanted to, he could've become a very good 3-point shooter as well.
I agree - Guys can only beat (or not) those in front of them.
I also think players are all products of the era in which they played, which is why comparing players of different eras is so difficult.
Jonny Arnett.......I think you may be the GOAT basketball UA-camr. I don't know how many subscribers you have in Africa but I think I'm your biggest fan. Keep shining bro 👏👏
I think it is an interesting what if for if jordan played in todays game. He definitely would have developed a 3pt shot just like so many others. I doubt he would ever be a really good 3 pt shooter but he definitely would be a threat. Ray allen was one of the players entering the league as a jordan type player yet he is now one of the greatest 3pt shooters. I would assume jordan would pick up the harden type step back and probably end up as a 35% on 5 attempts guy.
I would argue Jordan was the team's "3-point specialist" during his first 3-peat in the PLAYOFFS.
Jordan made the most 3s over that 3-year stretch on the Bulls, while shooting roughly 38.5% from the arc.
Someone tell me if LeBum ever did anything like that.
Lebron shot a higher % from 3 than Steph Curry last year
@gggyy7104 Jordan shot a higher 3p% than LeBron in the Finals.
One guy is 6-0, with a game winning 3 in the Finals.
The other guy is 4-6, with NO game winning 3s in the Finals.
Can you guess who is who?
@@bwink23
One guy has the lowest all time score in a 3p contest when nobody’s guarding you
Another guy shot a higher % from 3 than Steph Curry at 39 years old
Can you guess who is who?
@gggyy7104 One guy was too scared to attempt a dunk contest or a 3-point contest...do you know who that was?
One guy made more 3-pointers than the entire opposing team in an NBA Finals series.. something Steph Curry never did.
Do you know who did that?
@@bwink23
The players don’t decide whether they participate in the contests goofy 🤣🤣 The NBA picks
But what I do know is that one player shot 28.8% from 3 without the WNBA line for his career AVERAGE
And the other player’s LOWEST 3p% in a season was 29% and that was with the standard line
Take a guess who is who
Human progress is not perfectly linear. The most modern and recent does not equate to the most advanced or elite. NBA basketball's golden age and peak was in the 1980's and 1990's. The 3 pointer was a weapon used by specialists and real men played hard physical defense unlike today's mentally soft, weak Primadonna's whose broad spacing and weak defense means anyone can shoot 3's in this NBA. Michael Jordan remains the most elite basketball player to date. His combination of offensive and defensive mastery has yet to be equaled.
Before that Suns Nash/D’Antoni mid 2000s era where the game started to change, any player who wasn’t a 3point shooting role player who shot between 30-35% was basically as good as they needed to be to justify shooting a 3. The game was not the same whatsoever.
I love mj from day one up till today. But i really thought he was sucked at 3pointers because he didn't developed it that much, until you made this video. Thanks for this enlightenment
Nice video. I wish there was a way to tell home many times MJ just chucked a 40 footer at the end of a quarter to try to get some points. On his low attempts, that would definitely skew his percentage, and we know he would chuck those often. Guys today won't dare to that, you can't dare ruin your percentage....
Even if MJ is bad at 3-point shooting, it doesn't negate anything in his career or legacy. You play the game that's being played in the league at the time, not what's being played decades later. If MJ came into the league in 2020 and grew up watching Steph curry, he'd likely have a much different game than what he did coming in in the 80s.
He didn't care about it. Should he play in the current NBA, he would practice it and would be great at it.
Jordan was a mid-range juggernaut when he was with the Wizards. He didn't have the knees to get to the basketball anymore. He had highest volume of mid-rangers in the NBA and among the best FG%. He was still a plus defender. They went from a 19-win team to playoff contenders without any other major changes to the roster.
And he missed 20 games due to surgery.
Not being great at something does not mean you're terrible at it. No NBA player is great at everything, including Jordan. But him and a few others can do pretty much everything. So they have no weaknesses.
One thing I thought you were going to point out is that, even starting with the 88-89 season, his 3P% is *positively* correlated with his 3P attempts. Even ignoring the 2nd 3peat due to shorter 3 point line, you have 5 seasons: 2 with 3+ 3 point attempts per game and over 35% accuracy, and 3 with
The 3 point shot wasn't what Jordan was focused on. He didn't want to sit at the 3 point line and wait for the ball. That's not his game.
Plus, the game didn't revolve around the 3 point line back then.
The NBA as we know it today is more like the WWE (entertainment). The NBA as a professional sport died long ago.
Something not many people take into account is that a significant amount of Jordan's 3 point attempts during his first 4 years were half court or full court shots at the end of regulation
Chef kiss to the logic used when splitting Jordan 3 % based on a learning curve , stakes and approach
I think the perfect way to sum it up is MJs own comments about 3 point shooting. You can see that today. Some players have no all around game today and live at the 3 point line
One other minor thing to mention, in his earlier years, when players sometimes averaged around 1 attempt or less per game, it was often a half court to full court heave at the buzzer. They weren't really worried about their percentages which is why so many of them had years where they shot under 10-20%
Larry Bird was the same way at the beginning of his career as well
thanks for that
MJ's 3pt% is just 0.2% less than Kobe's. People exaggerate because MJ literally had no real weakness.
kobe's 3pt% isn't great though.
I, personally, do not believe in holding three point percentage against guys from back then.
Writing this before finishing the video but wven as someone who doesn't want MJ to be the GOAT, I wouldn't make the crazy claim that he was bad at shooting 3s. The era context is important. Teams weren't setting up the 3 ball in the 80s and 90s. It was bigs to iso ball. MJ would turn it on in the playoffs, where the lights are the brightest. From 91-93 he averaged 2.4 3PA and shot .387. That's elite for the era. Always have to put the numbers in context with the era. His 1990 season is underrated in how he shot from 3. He was 14% better than league average and attempted 65% more shots from 3 than league average. Incredible.
This analysis seems ok to me but is missing potentially one key point. When 3-point volume drops, hail mary shots at the end of quarters and end of game toss ups dominate the %'s. Most players have pretty terrible 3 point %'s when most of the 3 pointers recorded are heaves from 1/2 court to try to get a basket before a quarter end. I'd like to suggest you break down the 3 point shots taken when volume was low and determine how many of these were low quality hail mary attempts vs actual quality shots in half court sets.
I'd like to thank you for taking the time to investigate and analyze these concepts. I hope it's really helpful to younger viewers to build an appreciation for the foundation of our NBA. The league would not be what it is today without the players of yesteryear.
its true! if mj focused on 3pters. thats just one point more than a lay up, mid range..
attacking the basket affects the game more, opponent fouls, going to freethrows to give ur tm8’s a chance to catch their breath, create openings for tm8 3’s or 2’s, helping out team for offensive rebounds.
nba teams know not to foul a 3pter so they can challenge but if they make it, hats off to them.
its just 1 more point vs the whole aspect of the game
Mj three point shooting matters when they need it the most. MJ take 3 points when they needed to win.
Difficult to make half court or very long three pointers count as shot attempts. These shots greatly reduce the percentage of three point shooting when the sample size is low.
For example, in 1990 jordan makes 1 out of 2 shots or 50% on regular 3 point shots and then fires up and misses a half court shot at the end of a quarter, the statistics will say that jordan shot a measley 1 for 3 or 33%.
Same scenario in 2020, lebron makes 3 out of 6 shots from three or 50% and then fires up and misses a half court shot at the end of a quarter. Statistics say he shot 3 for 7 or 42.8% which is great.
This math problem is not considered when comparing eras for 3point shooting
1st Your in depth research is untouchable: You videos I call my personal set the record straight videos channel.
I did the greatest scorer of all-time/ evaluation and I came to know that Jordan wasn't the worst 3pt shooter or scorer Lebron's fans was making him out to be.
Like you said after year 88 he was above League Average/ I said his is good 3 point scorer and he can score from the 3 point line if he chose to.
I've always felt that if MJ played in the modern NBA where the meta was to shoot 3s, he would just work on his 3PT game and adapt. He more than had the ability, but that's not the style of basketball he played. He played the style that allowed him to dominate his era. If he played at a time where 3s were more important to being successful, he'd just do that because at the end of the day, he was a winner.
He became a good 3 point shooter, although his skill in this area of the game was not as transcendent as his other skills, when compared to his peers. But he gave us the reason for that. It was clearly a choice, and related to a mentality he wanted to maintain. (And it should be noted, especially when talking about big men, that the ones that like to take 3 point shots, rarely like to drive to the basket, so MJ wasn't joking about the effect on his mentality when focusing on 3s).
But people sure learned not to leave him alone out there to shoot 3s. You absolutely had to respect him with that shot. You never heard anyone after that series say anything like, "we'll let him take that shot."
Most importantly, the bigger the stage, the bigger MJ's performance.
I think with three pointers or with shooting in general it's about a certain threshold! Is it harder to maintain a certain % when the volume goes up? Yes! But it's also hard to reach a certain % when you only try one a game. There is no getting hot, no being streaky with only one attempt. Btw I bet some of those were also prayers and heaves with the clock expiring.
I was born in June 2003, couple weeks before bron got drafted to the nba. To think he’s still a top tier player today, throughout my WHOLE life so far, is unbelievable. Brons my goat, but MJ was a fucking beast, I don’t understand the whole rivalry between the fans of each player. Sure some mj fans will say I’m wrong but I literally couldn’t watch him play, I’ve watched bron for the most part of his second half of his career. These “fans” of MJ and bron need to be put down. They’re both goats, just to different generations
2:46
What 3pt skill was drexler talking about? Up to that point, they were both practically the same 3pt % for their careers.
I would bet even Steph Curry would be an ATROCIOUS three point shooter if he would attempt one shot per game
That is the nuance that many people are ignoring
As with all other aspects of MJ's game, his play style was all about winning and performing when it mattered the most. He made his 3's when he had to make them, especially in the playoffs and finals. What other players can really say this about their game?
If he played in today's NBA, then he would have just focused on what would make him win championships with his given body and his given team with current rules, same as what he has done during his era. I wouldn't be surprised if he trained himself to best Steph in 3PT%, range, shot creation, while still excelling in defense and being the leader of his team. That is what he meant by 'I chose to'. Whether he would still have won 6 championship or less or more would really depend on who his teammates are and the coach probably.
MJ himself had said it best: he was as good as he chose to be! That's why when it mattered the most and the game situations needed him to shoot more 3s to win or just he wanted to prove a point, he simply did better! But when his other arsenals were sufficient to win then that's it, no need many 3s!
So cool :)
I think decent is the only reasonable word to describe it. I wouldn't call it a weakness, but he wasn't elite at it.
Michael Jordan was so competitive that he would have adjusted to whatever it took to win. If he would have needed the 3-pointer to win, he would have been one of the best in the league.
Well said.
MJ’s shooting less than one 3 pointer per game in the 80s aka MJ almost never shooting 3 pointers unless it’s an end of quarter prayer…
1:10 This should therefore be applied to all players in those years.