80 seasons · the game in data
The NBA through the eras
How the game has changed since 1946, season by season — from basketball with no 3-point line to the three-point revolution. All from the real box score, per-team, per-game averages.
The three-point revolution
From 2 to 37 attempts a game
In 1980, the first year with a 3-point line, a team took 1.8 threes per game. Today: 37. Almost 20 times more.
Where the shot comes from
4 of every 10 shots are threes
The three went from 2% of all shots to nearly half: 41.5% last season.
Scoring, wave after wave
From 67.8-point basketball to 115.6
In 1946 teams scored 67.8 a game. The 24-second clock (1954) set it off; the iso era sank it to 91.6 around 1998; today, with the three, it's at an all-time high.
The team game
The pass returns
Assists per game trace their own cycle too: a peak in the '80s Showtime, a valley in the iso era, and back up (26.7) with today's motion basketball.
Data: per-team, per-game averages from player_box (regular season, cleaned). It complements the narrative story in NBA history.