Kevin Durant Talks Evolution of NBA, Says It Was Harder to Drop 30 When He Was Rookie
The NBA's offensive evolution hasn't gone unnoticed by Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant.
During Wednesday's episode of The Old Man and the Three, host JJ Redick asked Durant whether it has become easier to drop 30 points since the 12-time All-Star entered the league in 2007.
"It was so hard to score 30 back then," Durant said at the 57:03 mark. "You got two guys in the paint. There wasn't exotic offenses like we've got now. ... Now, you've got coaches dedicated to just finding trick plays to get you open in space. Back then, you had to kind of create your space out of nothing; the mid-range was key."
"Nobody plays defense anymore" is a common refrain from critics of the current NBA playing style.
There's no question that instituting the hand-checking rule and legislating out hard fouls has made life more difficult for defenders. But it's important to differentiate Durant's comments from the nostalgic longing for the days when 78-77 was the final score in an NBA Finals game. A lack of defense isn't why NBA offenses are thriving.
The prevailing wisdom for a long time was that a team couldn't win a title if it relied heavily on the three-pointer. Remember this tweet from legendary head coach Phil Jackson?
The pendulum has obviously shifted to a point where the NBA is almost unrecognizable from where it was just 10 or 20 years ago. Now, it's almost impossible to thrive in the postseason without having three or four shooters on the floor at a given time.
During Durant's rookie season (2007-08), NBA teams were averaging 99.9 points per game, according to Basketball Reference. This year, teams are scoring 110.4 points per game.
It's worth noting the field-goal percentages are nearly equal between 2007-08 (45.7 percent) and 2021-22 (46.0 percent). However, the average number of three-point attempts has almost doubled from 18.1 per game to 35.2. Oddly enough, the three-point percentage has gone down slightly from 36.2 to 35.3.
It's easier to put up 30 points now because the pace of the game is quicker and players have the opportunity to hoist up more shots, and there's the intensified focus on offensive sets that Durant mentioned.
