Phil Jackson’s Controversial Proposal to Improve NBA Game Quality

Phil Jackson posted his first message on social media in over a year to propose an improvement to NBA basketball. The legendary 80-year-old coach, who has 13 NBA titles as a player and coach, revived a suggestion he has been pushing to the league for more than a decade.

This comes in response to comments made by Steve Kerr, a former Jackson player with the Bulls and current coach of the Warriors, who had floated the idea of completely eliminating the 3-point line. Jackson does not want to go that far, but is proposing a significant change to the three-point line.

Steve Kerr gives credit to his players, staff and organization after becoming the 4th-fastest coach to 600 WINS!

Phil Jackson (805 games)
Pat Riley (832)
Gregg Popovich (887)
Steve Kerr (943) pic.twitter.com/RaFZrE8cam

— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2026

Standardizing the 3-Point Line to Rebalance the Game

“For 15 years I have been asking the NBA rules committee to extend the out-of-bounds area behind the sideline. The corner three would move to 24 feet.”, Jackson wrote Monday on X. His suggestion aims to make the 3-point line uniform across the entire court and eliminate the 22-foot corner threes, which are easier to make and heavily favored by today’s teams.

This change could discourage teams from relying heavily on 3-point-based offenses that now dominate the league. However, implementation would not be straightforward, as it would require removing front-row seats in every arena in the league.

Kerr, whose future at Golden State remains uncertain after 12 seasons and four NBA titles, had taken an even more radical stance in an interview with The New Yorker this week. “I would never do a four-point play. In fact, I would even consider getting rid of the three-point line”, the coach had said.

These remarks may seem surprising coming from a former 3-point specialist as a player, who also coached two of the most prolific shooters in NBA history in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Golden State coach had also helped Jackson win three of his titles, playing a key role in the Bulls’ second three-peat from 1996 to 1999.

Jackson had stepped out of the spotlight after his failed tenure as president of the Knicks from March 2014 to June 2017.

Steve Kerr says he would consider ELIMINATING the three-point line to make the game more creative

“I would never do a four-point play. In fact, I would even consider getting rid of the three-point line. I just think that the game, as it was designed, is really to create the best… pic.twitter.com/03QYadH0dk

— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) April 26, 2026