Report: NBA investigating if excessive scoring is a problem

Between 1964 and 2022, only four players — David Thompson, David Robinson, Kobe Bryant and Devin Booker — reached the 70-point threshold. 

Then, over the last 13 months, four others — Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic — joined the elusive Club 70. 

Embiid and Doncic's scoring outbursts at the start of 2024 were also part of a five-day span that saw four players scoring at least 60 points — the first time that had happened in the 77-year history of the NBA. 

In the wake of the ongoing offensive explosion, a new report from ESPN suggests that the NBA has officially begun a review to determine if the game has become far too advantageous to scorers and whether changes need to be implemented to achieve better balance.

"It is a topic that we're monitoring," Joe Dumars, the NBA's head of basketball operations, told ESPN. "We're diving in right now to make sure that we're on the right side of this."

In the running for his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, Rudy Gobert knows a thing or two about tackling high-octane offenses on a nightly basis. The Timberwolves center acknowledges that the league has changed rapidly since he entered it in 2013.

"The rules really favor offense, in general, right now," Gobert rued. "Keeping a team under a hundred is way more rare than it was a few years back."

To Gobert's point, the league average for points in his rookie season (2013-14) was 101, with the Chris Paul-led Lob City squad leading the NBA with 107.9 per game. This season, five teams are averaging more than 120 points. The league average is 115.3 points. 

Kings head coach Mike Brown credits floor spacing and increased skill levels for the higher-scoring output. 

"Back then, you only had a couple of guys around the league that you really had to worry about from the 3-point line," Brown told ESPN. "I don't know if there's anything [to curtail scoring]. Guys are just so freaking good compared to back then that it would be tough."

It remains to be seen if the league amends any rules to bring back a semblance of parity between offense and defense. 

NBA analyst JJ Redick previously floated the idea of eliminating the defensive three-second rule, which was originally implemented to create more floor spacing. 

However, with the 3-point shot opening up the floor, Redick believes the rule should be done with.