Times are changing in the NBA and Lakers superstar LeBron James is taking notice. He seems to be taking issue with it, too.

Ahead of the second-ever NBA Cup championship, the league announced an upheaval of the NBA All-Star Game as fans have come to know it. And while the new All-Star Game format has already received pushback from several stars, James used a question about the changes to voice his opinion on what he feels is an even bigger issue: 3-point volume.

Here’s what James said about the new All-Star Game format and his NSFW declaration about what he’s seeing on a nightly basis during his 22nd season in the league.

“Something had to change,” James said of the NBA All-Star Game. “I mean, it’s different in a sense. … It’s different, obviously, any time you make some type of change it’s going to be some buck back. … We gotta do something. Obviously, these last few years have not been a great All-Star Game, that Sunday night.”

Then, unprompted, James added to his response by saying: “It’s a bigger conversation. It’s not just the All-Star Game, it’s our game in general. Our game — there’s a lot of f—ing 3s being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game.”

LeBron James, when asked about changes to the NBA All-Star Game format, touched on more issues with the league: “Our game, there’s a lot of f—ing 3s being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game” pic.twitter.com/weKJVSyXfB

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 19, 2024

The amount of 3-pointers attempted by teams during the 2024-25 NBA season has been a hot-button topic as of late. Commissioner Adam Silver recently told a group of reporters that “[we are having] many discussions about the style of basketball [being played],” in the NBA this season.

Silver added: “I would not reduce it to a so-called 3-point shooting issue. I think we look more holistically at the skill level on the floor, the diversity of offense, the fan reception to the game, all of the above.”

This season, the defending champion Celtics are attempting 51.1 3s per game — a figure well above the league average of 37.5 3-point attempts per game. In response to some of the recent talking points, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla pushed back to critiques by asking “Why in basketball is scoring up being an issue, as opposed to other sports?”

As a stark contrast to Mazzulla’s Celtics, James’ Lakers rank 27th in the league with 33.4 3-point attempts per game, a figure that also falls below the league average. It is an eye-opening number when considering LA is coached by an all-time 3-point shooting great in JJ Redick.

For perspective that may add context to James’ point: The league average during James’ rookie year was 14.9 3-point attempts per game and the league leader took 23.6 3s per game.

Fast forward 22 seasons and seven players attempt 10 or more 3s per game.

James has attempted at least five 3s per game in each of the last eight seasons but even his 3-point shooting has decreased as of late. After attempting 8.0 3s per game in 2021-22, James is taking 5.7 per game this year.

Thursday, James declined to dive deeper into the “bigger conversation” that needs to be had about 3-point shooting but he’s certainly taken his stance.

Only time will tell what happens next.

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