2004 Season

This is where shots came from

Each dot is a shot attempt, colored by zone. In 2004, the court was covered fairly evenly. Look at all that gray in the mid-range.

Mid-Range · 14-22 ft

Mid-range was king

32%

The pull-up jumper. The elbow fadeaway. In 2004, nearly one in three shots came from mid-range. It was the backbone of every offense.

Three-Point Zone · 23+ ft

A secondary option

23%

Only 16 three-point attempts per game. The arc was a specialist's domain — not something you built an offense around.

The Inflection Point

Then Daryl Morey ran the math

The Rockets GM proved what the numbers always said: a 35% three-pointer is worth more than a 50% two. The analytics revolution had its thesis.

2015-16 Season

Steph Curry proved the concept

402

Three-pointers made in a single season. A record that shouldn't have been possible. The rest of the league saw and followed.

Fast forward

Welcome to 2025

Same court. Completely different map. The dots migrated. The middle emptied out. The rim and the arc took over.

Mid-Range · 2025

The ghost zone

10%

From 32% to 10%. The biggest vanishing act in modern basketball. The dots that used to fill this area simply disappeared.

Three-Point Zone · 2025

Nearly half of all shots

47%

37 three-point attempts per game. What was once a specialist's domain is now the foundation of every offense in the league.

The Rim · 2025

Rim and arc. That's the game.

35%

If you're not shooting a three, get all the way to the basket. The restricted area grew from 26% to 35%. Basketball became a game of extremes.

The Holdouts

A few still work the middle

DeRozan. SGA. Jokić. A handful of stars still pull up from mid-range — and make it work. But they're the exception, not the rule.