Era · Modern

The Positionless Decade

2011–present

A decade and a half of positional dissolution, three-point volume, and player movement. LeBron James is the through-line from 2011 to the early 2020s. Stephen Curry restructures how defenses are built. Kevin Durant becomes the test case for what a 6'11" scorer can be. The Warriors take the title five times in eight years and the league spends most of that period trying to figure out how to respond.

Three-point attempts per game league-wide roughly doubled between 2011 and 2022. The 2014 Spurs run a motion offense that most of the next decade's contenders would borrow pieces from. In 2016 the Cavaliers come back from 3–1 down against the 73-win Warriors, and the argument about the greatest Finals ever, previously 1984, mostly moves to that series.