Rick Rubin: From the beginning of seeing the game till now, what has been the biggest changes you’ve seen? Phil Jackson: Well, the three point line change the game dramatically. Rick Rubin: When did that happen? Phil Jackson: The unification of the American basketball, ABA. The ABA in the NBA, when two leagues united the three-point line came with the ABA. And there was maybe six times it would be shot. Sometimes there was not a three-point shot taken. And then Houston had a team with guys who could shoot three pointers towards the end of Rick Barry’s career and Rudy Tomjanovich’s career, so they started exploiting it a little bit. And then it took off… but in the finals, even in the 90s, when we played Utah, they were the least three-point shooting team in the league, they took 13-14 a game. Now teams take 30… There was a good shot, it was a high percentage shot. They also had a terrific interior player named Malone, Karl Malone. So there was there was that part of it.
by Hoops Hype