NBA shooting stars step back to make a great leap forward
Awkward-looking bombs from beyond the arc putting a new twist on offense
James Harden turned to it to become the NBA’s most unstoppable scorer.
Luka Doncic has ridden it to stardom on both sides of the Atlantic.
The step-back 3-pointer is the perfect weapon for the modern NBA — practically a necessity in a game where the ability to find space to shoot from behind the arc is more valued than ever before.
“Things have changed and the game is so spread out,” said Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle.
“All over the NBA and all over the world really, everybody’s stretching the range out a few feet more.
“The 3-point line is being covered much better than it has in the past so guys are moving back, and guys that can create space to shoot 3s unassisted have a special skill.
“It’s going to be more of a necessary skill as the game continues to evolve.”
But before guys who belong in the paint start hoisting them up from the perimeter or taking balls off the rack and shooting stepbacks during this weekend’s AllStar 3-point contest, there are a few things to consider.
Even Stephen Curry said it’s a tough shot to make. It’s fundamentally flawed and sometimes looks like a violation.
“You mean when they jump backwards and travel and shoot a 3?” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich quipped.
“I guess it has been made legal. I don’t know. It’s very difficult to guard.”
That’s because the defender has to be prepared for the player with the ball to drive to the basket.
But instead of continuing forward, the offensive player suddenly gathers his feet and steps backward to shoot, taking advantage of the extra space he has created.
Curry is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in history, but he’s also a wizard with his dribble. So whoever is defending him can never quite be sure which way he is going.
“Obviously you respect the athletic guys that can drive and use their first step and explosiveness and all that type of stuff,” Curry said.
“It’s a tough shot to make consistently, but the guys that do, it’s obviously a shot and a look that you can always kind of count on to create space and knock it down.”
There will be more than a few hoisted up during the All-Star festivities. But nobody shoots it more — or arguably better — than Harden.
His 151 step-back 3-pointers coming into this week represented 15 percent of the 1,006 makes thus far, according to the NBA’s statistics.
Harden dribbles patiently until he sees an opening, then either drives for a layup or foul, or steps back for the 3, sometimes from a few steps beyond the arc.
A seven-time All-Star, league MVP and scoring champion last season, Harden has scored 30 or more points in 31 straight games, matching Wilt Chamberlain for the second-longest streak in NBA history. Averaging 36.5 points, he is poised to win another scoring title in a runaway.
He said he turned to the stepback 3 as a way to evolve with a game that has seen more than 2,500 step-back 3s taken already this season, after there were only 584 for all of 2014-15, according to NBAsavant.com.
“I mean, every single year you have to come back better than you were the year before, and for me I had a pretty good year last year. But you’ve got to come back better and come up with a new move or a new package to keep defenders on their heels,” Harden said.
“So whether it’s a step-back or a slide step, I just try to create separation to be able to get my shot off.”
Harden has the green light in Houston, though that doesn’t make it a good shot — at least not for everyone else.
There are times when Harden launches one where it looks like a horrible shot.
He willingly takes longer attempts without fully squaring his shoulders up to the rim, which goes against just about everything coaches taught years ago.
Critics watching him shuffle his feet have seen instances where he certainly appeared to get away with traveling.
Because of the degree of difficulty, the step-back 3 might only be for a handful of players.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni compares it to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s sky hook, a shot that everyone tried but few could master.
“Certain guys have certain talents but it’s a hard shot,” D’Antoni said. “It’s a low 20-percent kind of shot for most people and he’s at about 40.”
Actually, Harden’s 41.5 percent on step-back 3s is only a little higher than the league average of 39.5 percent, though that could be misleading because so few players attempt them — and the ones who do are often already good shooters.
D’Antoni figures someone will come along and shoot it well — and that player might have already arrived.
Doncic is far ahead of anyone but Harden in attempts and makes, and the Mavericks rookie’s goodbye highlight in Europe was a one-legged step-back 3 that helped Real Madrid put away Game 4 of the ACB Championship series.
Doncic smiled when asked about the step-back 3, saying: “A lot of guys have special moves. That’s my kind of move.”
And even Popovich, no big fan of the 3-point game the NBA has become, gives credit to the stepback shooters.
“They are great at it, that’s for sure,” he said. “Take nothing away from them. It’s been developed, it’s used and no one is better at it than they are. It’s virtually impossible to guard, but they perfected it.”
Participants in the All-Star 3-point contest attempt to make as many 3-pointers as possible in one minute from five positions behind the three-point arc.
This year’s participants will be: Stephen Curry, Warriors; Seth Curry and Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers; Joe Harris, Nets; Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks; Buddy Hield, Kings; Devin Booker, Suns; Kemba Walker, Hornets; Danny Green, Raptors; and Khris Middleton, Bucks.
You mean when they jump backwards and travel and shoot a 3? I guess it has been made legal. I don’t know. It’s very difficult to guard.” Gregg Popovich, Spurs coach