Eight-time NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving raised some points with regards to the PBA’s 4-point line.
BANGKOK – Every basketball fan and player has had their own take about the PBA’s 4-point line, the league’s latest innovation to the Filipinos’ beloved game of basketball.
While some of it is good, some bad, Eight-time NBA All-Star and Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving had his own way of thinking about the phenomenon in Asia’s oldest professional hoops league.
His most basic point? It gives players more options to move on the court.
During an intimate lunch with select media during his visit to Bangkok, Thailand through sports brand ANTA, Irving shared his view on the intriguing line 27-feet from the basket.
“I think it’s gonna make the game a lot more fun, in terms of just the creativity that will enable people to move their games out a little further,” Irving told One Sports.
“There will be some four point specialists. We have had some three-point specialists that have done amazing things but now we can have opportunities to have four point specialists that see the game in a different way.”
Irving admitted that players will have various experiences with it and it will work for some and won’t for others.
But for Irving himself, he’s simply refreshed by the freedom that it gives. A little rebel himself on the court, it excites the NBA champion to a new level.
“We’ll see how it is, we’ll see the receptivity but I know that there are a lot of people that are gonna say that it’s one way or another. For me, I just enjoy the game the way it’s supposed to be played — having fun, you know, disrespecting the lines on the court so to say,” quipped Irving.
“But ultimately, just having that room to add more skills, I feel like the 4-point line will add a new skill and bring dynamic to the game. So I’m excited to see it.”
Irving is currently in Bangkok for his first-ever trip to Southeast Asia as part of his ongoing tour with the sports brand. Meanwhile, he previously commented on wanting to go to the Philippines after seeing a mural of himself on a court in La Union.
The PBA is currently test driving the 4-point line in the ongoing PBA Governor’s Cup.
Since its inception, the 4-point line has created buzz across teams and has had its moments this year – including two games that were decided by 4-point game winners.