Three-point field goal

In 1961, Boston University and Dartmouth played one game with an experimental rule that counted all field goals as three points.

Saperstein, who had significant power in the league as owner of the popular Globetrotters, disagreed with this and simply ignored the ruling.

[5] After the ABL shut down in 1963, the three-point shot was adopted by the Eastern Professional Basketball League in its 1963–64 season.

[6][7] ABA commissioner George Mikan stated that the three-pointer "would give the smaller player a chance to score and open up the defense to make the game more enjoyable for the fans".

[9][10][11] Three years later in June 1979, the NBA adopted the three-point line (initially on a one-year trial) for the 1979–80 season,[12][13][14] despite the view of many that it was a gimmick.

[15] Chris Ford of the Boston Celtics is credited with making the first three-point shot in NBA history on October 12, 1979.

The season opener at Boston Garden was more remarkable for the debut of Larry Bird (and two new head coaches).

[21] In the following years, players like Ainge, Dale Ellis, Michael Adams, Vernon Maxwell and Reggie Miller gained a reputation as three-point specialists.

[22] The sport's international governing body, FIBA, introduced the three-point line in 1984, at 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in), and it made its Olympic debut in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.

[23][24] Ronnie Carr of Western Carolina was the first to score a three-point field goal in college basketball history on November 29, 1980.

[36] The NCAA adopted the three-pointer in women's basketball on an experimental basis for that season at the same distance, and made its use mandatory beginning in 1987–88.

[37] The NFHS, along with elementary and middle schools, adopted a 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) line nationally in 1987, a year after the NCAA.

The NCAA announced on June 3, 2021 that the FIBA three-point distance would be extended to the women's game starting in 2021–22.

In 2008, FIBA announced that the distance would be increased by 50 cm (19.7 in) to 6.75 m (22 ft 1+3⁄4 in), with the change being phased in beginning in October 2010.

[46] In the NBA, attempting three-point field goals has become increasingly frequent in the modern day, particularly from mid-2015 onwards.

The increase in latter years has been attributed to two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who is credited with revolutionizing the game by inspiring teams to regularly employ the three-point shot as part of their winning strategy.

[47][48][49] Curry is the NBA's all-time leading scorer in three-point field goals made and is ranked highest in "Off Ball" average attention drawn.

In the NBA, WNBA, NCAA or NAIA, and FIBA standards, the arc spans the width of the court until it is a specified minimum distance from each sideline.

Major League Lacrosse (MLL) featured a two-point line which forms a 15-yard (14 m) arc around the front of the goal.

It was widely believed that long-distance shots in hockey had little direct relation to skill (usually resulting more from goalies' vision being screened or obscured), plus with the lower scoring intrinsic to the sport a two-point goal was seen as disruptive of the structure of the game.