Bob Ryan delivers one last 3-point rant on ‘Around the Horn’

One last time, for old times’ sake.

ESPN mainstay Around the Horn is wrapping up its two-decade run on May 23. To celebrate its iconic legacy, the show is bringing back some of its favorite panelists for a final appearance, including Kate Fagan, Jemele Hill, and, now, Bob Ryan.

Though 79-year-old Ryan has been candid about being sidelined in recent years, he’s still made occasional appearances, and his return for the show’s last episode would bring some symmetry. Ryan ranks No. 1 in win percentage among panelists with over 700 appearances. While Awful Announcing’s Brendon Kleen speculates that Ryan will likely be included in the finale, the former Boston Globe columnist was notably absent from AA’s subjective list of the best ATH panelists ever.

As for the best rants of all time, his disdain for the 3-pointer is undoubtedly up there. Last October, he declared the 3-pointer “the worst thing to happen to basketball” in his lifetime.

And on Friday, Ryan delivered one final, impassioned rant about the 3-pointer.

“What’s that word you used? It begins with an ‘A.’ Adjustment?” Ryan told host Tony Reali. “It’s a word that’s not in Joe Mazzulla’s vocabulary. On the morning of Game 2, he gave a response to a question by saying, ‘We just gotta make them.’ He has no intention of changing his M.O. He just thinks — and in Game 2, they had plenty of open looks again. They didn’t make them… Ask the Knicks. Opening Night this year, they were bombarded by 3s by the Celtics. You live by it, and sometimes you die by it.

“Look at the Minnesota Timberwolves. In Game 1, they were 5-of-29 — they lost. Last night, they made over 40% of their shots from 3, and they won. You’re right, I hate the 3. It’s the worst thing to happen to basketball in my lifetime. Nobody needed. Nobody asked for it. It was forced upon us by Abe Saperstein in 1961. But we have to live with it. I have to live with it. It’s not going anywhere.”

For old times’ sake, a final @GlobeBobRyan 3-point rant… pic.twitter.com/LYcDBVc9aQ

— Around the Horn (@AroundtheHorn) May 9, 2025

But to answer Reali’s question, Ryan said the Celtics will make more 3s in New York on Saturday.

“I’ll bet you anything,” he said.

Consider Ryan not concerned.

“I still want Plan B,” Ryan says. “But I know that Plan A will be better.”

One last rant for the road. And, fittingly, not a single foot inside the arc.