Steve Kerr wants to eliminate the three-point line entirely. Phil Jackson wants to widen the court. Both ideas have merit, but honestly? They’re either too drastic or too expensive. I’ve got a simpler proposal that nobody seems to be floating, and I think it actually solves the problem.
Keep the three-point line exactly where it is — except in the corners.
Right now, the corner three sits at 22 feet, about 18 inches closer to the basket than the rest of the arc. That shorter distance is the whole reason analytics-driven offenses have made it the most valuable shot in basketball. Defenses have to honor it, which spaces the floor, which opens driving lanes, which creates kick-outs, which leads to more corner threes. It’s a loop that’s made the modern NBA increasingly predictable.
Here’s my fix: extend the corner portion of the arc to the same 23 feet 9 inches as the rest of the line, without widening the court.
Do the math. An NBA court is 50 feet wide, meaning there’s 25 feet from the basket to each sideline. At 23 feet 9 inches, you’ve only got 15 inches between the arc and the out-of-bounds line. A men’s size 12 shoe is roughly 12 inches long. You need both feet behind the line to hit a legal three. The geometry simply doesn’t work. You haven’t banned the corner three — you’ve just made it physically impossible to shoot legally from there.
No new rule language. No arena renovations. The line does the work.
But here’s what I think is the real payoff: it doesn’t just eliminate a shot, it changes how defenses think. The corner three’s value was never just the shot itself — it was the threat of the shot. Right now a defender has to honor four or five perimeter spots at once. Take the corner off the board and suddenly a defender can cheat off that spot, clog driving lanes more aggressively, and rotate more freely. The entire defensive calculus shifts.
And offenses? They’d have to actually get creative again. No more parking a big man in the corner to stretch the floor while everyone watches. You’d need movement, cuts, and — dare I say it — mid-range jumpers. You know, basketball.
Kerr and Jackson are both right that the corner three is the problem. They’re just thinking too big about the solution. You don’t need to blow up the game or rebuild every arena in the league.
You just need 15 inches.
