NBA writer Tim MacMahon: ‘Mid-range jump shots are like toes’

Has the NBA become too dependent on three-point shooting? ESPN’s Tim MacMahon doesn’t think so and used an interesting comparison to prove his point.

During an appearance on The Hoop Collective with Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps, MacMahon took issue with a question NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently faced, where he was asked if the NBA had “reached an efficiency trap” as it relates to teams relying on three-pointers, which may maximize their chances of winning at the expense of a fun product for fans to watch. Silver addressed the question, saying the league would explore trying to “balance these interests.”

MacMahon, though, didn’t like what he heard, disagreeing with the premise.

“Pardon my French, but what the bleep are you watching,” MacMahon said. “Folks, don’t listen to the blubbering idiots out there on the internet and maybe even on your TV. This is the best offensive basketball of any era in the history of the game. It is the most aesthetically pleasing basketball that has ever been played. I do not understand why there’s this fetish for mid-range jump shots. Like, when did mid-range jump shots become some kind of fun thing to watch?”

MacMahon continued.

“Let me just tell you, mid-range jump shots are like toes,” he said. “There’s a select few that are really pretty. But the vast majority of ’em, you don’t want to see.”

This is the most insane thing I’ve heard in an NBA podcast in a long time pic.twitter.com/mTYkn9AGga

— will (@willrockets2000) January 24, 2025

“What?” Bontemps replied.

“That was a curveball I was not expecting, Bontemps,” Windhorst said.

“Like, how many ugly-ass feet do you see?” McMahon said.

“Alright. You’re out of here. Enough. Enough,” Bontemps said.

“No, I’m just telling you. For those of you who can’t understand elementary school math, that’s how you should translate.”

Well, that’s an interesting comparison.

Perhaps MacMahon should try to pitch this soundbite, hoping to get it into the next shoe commercial of Steph Curry — or another prolific three-point shooter. It feels like the rest of the commercial would write itself around it.