Modern basketball is very different from the basketball of the 2000s, 90s, 80s, etc. With the death of the traditional big man, advent of spacing, positionless small ball, fast pace, it seems like certain types of players are being driven out of the NBA. Ben Wallace could not survive this league.
So is it still possible for someone to maintain a long career in the league without developing a reliable 3 point shot? And what would they have to specialize in to justify their value?
He never has. He had two seasons barely above average (37+%) but he’s a career 33% three point shooter. That’s about the league median, but not the league average (partly because average is always above median, partly because good three point shooters shoot the majority of threes).