The NBA’s problem is the 3-pointer. Teams shoot more threes than they ever have before [1] because it’s a winning strategy (more points per attempt). At the same time, the league-wide 3pt% (percentage of 3-pointers made) has remained extremely stable around 35-36% [2] for the past few decades. This means the league as a whole has not found a way to consistently defend against the three.
So why is this bad? It’s really boring basketball! Watching teams shoot and miss a bit less than 2/3 of their shots with very little the other team’s defence can do about it is not fun to watch!
All of the athleticism and skill of the most famous stars in the NBA’s past has focused on basketball skills: dribbling, crossovers, driving the ball to the basket, making layups and dunks, changing hands mid shot to avoid a block, making turn around jumpers and hook shots, floaters. The one exception to that is Steph Curry who is best known as a shooter but who is frankly a pretty boring player to watch.