It’s October 12, 1979, the first day of the NBA season. The league has introduced something called a three-point line – a move that, with time, will radically change the geography of offense. For now, though, it’s something of an enigma.
Boston is hosting Houston, one of the early games on the schedule for the league’s opening night. In a game that features Larry Bird and Cedric Maxwell, it’s a young guard from Villanova who steals the show.
Late in the first quarter, Chris Ford hits the first three-pointer in NBA history.
Six different players hit threes that night. Because Ford’s three came in the first quarter of the early slate of games, it’s believed his shot was the first in history. ML Carr explained as such:
“The team was pretty excited that Chris opened a new era…I guarantee if you interviewed Chris now he would say, ‘I didn’t realize what I was starting.’”
Ford shot a blistering 42.7 percent from three that first season on 2.2 attempts per game. The Mad Bomber as he was often known certainly proved the three could be an effective and reliable shot from the jump.
The American Basketball Association actually employed the three for years before merging with the National Basketball Association in 1976. Folks on the NBA side of the equation were worried that the three ball would upend the action at the rim. The ABA – known for its theatrics – hadn’t been so worried about upgrading the product.
The 79-80 season was supposed to be a one year trial for the three-point shot in the NBA. And even though it survived past its original experimental period, it wasn’t until 1986-97 that the NBA as a league surpassed 100 made threes for a season. For context, Steph Curry alone made 402 threes during the 2015-16.
Curry’s unbelievable dominance and the associated offensive revolution wouldn’t be possible without pioneers like Chris Ford. He’ll forever be in the record books as the first player to ever hit a three-pointer in NBA history.
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