The Big Aristotle has been vocal about what’s going wrong with the NBA. According to him, the league’s obsession with three-point shooting is driving fans away. “Every team is just chucking up three balls these days,” Shaquille O’Neal said after the league noticed a decline in viewership this season. But NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sees it differently and doesn’t buy Shaq’s argument. In the midst of this debate, ex-Warriors star Gilbert Arenas has entered the chat, adding a fresh perspective to the growing discussion.

Gilbert Arenas shared his take during a recent episode of Gil’s Arena. Against blaming the 3-pointers, he argued that the NBA could fix its issues if it consulted players instead of referees on rule changes. “Start talking to basketball players. ‘If we take this away from you, what are you going to do?’ And let them give you the answers,” he said.

Arenas emphasized that referees, who lack high-level playing experience, often miss how these changes impact the game. Citing past examples like the foul-baiting trend, Arenas pointed out that asking players how they would adapt could prevent unintended consequences and keep the game engaging.

Adding to the debate, co-host Rashad McCants shared his own bold ideas. He questioned what would happen if the league shifted away from heavy three-point reliance. “So what happens when you do this? Everything’s twos,” McCants said, stressing that players would need to rely on mid-range shots and contact instead. He suggested that scoring could actually increase if players focused on driving to the basket more often, creating faster-paced, high-scoring games.

Meanwhile, Shaquille O’Neal has doubt on the current playing style. On The Big Podcast with Shaq, he expressed how predictable the league has become. “I have a theory. It’s down because we are looking at the same thing. Everybody’s running the same plays, at the damn top of the key, dribble hand off. I was talking to a coach yesterday. He said he wanted to throw fifty three-pointers… I think viewership will continue to go down unless we switch things back up,” he said.

The league saw roughly 42 percent decline in viewership for the first dual game of the season on ESPN compared to last year. The next day was no different with a 30% drop. So Shaq wants to switch things up, as does Arenas and Adam Silver, though with a different approach.

Adam Silver disagrees with Shaq

Speaking at the Paley Center for Media’s International Council Summit, Adam Silver shared his own analysis, which completely diverged from Shaq’s.

To make his point clear, Silver said, “I don’t think it has anything to do with the 3-point shot.” Instead, he pointed to external events that have made it harder for the NBA to compete for viewers. According to the commissioner, the league isn’t struggling because of what’s happening on the court, but because of what’s happening outside of it.

Silver highlighted how this season’s early ratings faced stiff competition. “This year, we were up against the World Series, Dodgers-Yankees, two very attractive teams, they brought in a big audience,” he said, speaking of the series that ran from the 25th of October to the 30th, around the time NBA was getting back on, and averaged 15.8 million viewers. He also mentioned the recent presidential election, which dominated attention nationwide. To Silver, these distractions—not gameplay—are the real culprits behind the numbers.

The season opener between the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers only pulled in 1.71 million viewers. Compare that to last year’s Boston Celtics-New York Knicks opener, which drew 2.55 million. But Silver is hopeful of the season ahead. “I think we’re just looking at a couple weeks of ratings,” he says.