PODCAST: 4-point shot is an idiotic idea, unless …

Excuse my venom, but the Adam Silver would be OUT OF HIS MIND if he instituted a new rule establishing a 4-point shot. That is the kind of gimmick the Harlem Globetrotters use to sell tickets, and I’d hate to think of Silver as Abe Saperstein 2.0.

Thank goodness the NBA called out ESPN for making up a story “that does not exist.”

Rod Thorn seemed to divulge yesterday in an interview with ESPN.com’s Henry Abbott that a 4-point shot is one of the changes being considered by the new braintrust at NBA headquarters, where David Stern now has to show his driver’s license in the Olympic Tower lobby in order to be allowed upstairs.

The NBA has made idiotic rules changes before, such as moving the 3-point line in to 22 feet for two seasons during the mid 90s, turning every game into a chuckfest and every player into a guy with 3-point range. It took the league 2 years to back off that rule change and restore some semblance of rationality.

An NBA spokesman shot down the 4-point story. “No one at the NBA, nor the competition committee, has had any serious conversations about increasing the size of the floor or adding a 4-point line, spokesman Tim Frank tweeted. “Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe were entertaining a line of questioning about out of the box ideas and ESPN.com chose to make a story that doesn’t exist.”

If it was up to me, I’d move the 3-point line back even further, eliminating the corner 3-point shot (which has always been 22 feet) and awarding the extra point only to those who have Damian Lillard range — 25 feet. But the only thing I am commissioner of is this Web site, so all I can do is add my 2 cents on the issue of a 4-point shot — which I do in this podcast with 1280TheZone in Salt Lake City.

If the NBA adds a 4-point shot, make the 4-point line the opposing free throw line. It would allow for a few last-second heaves to provide a handful of compelling finishes to games that seemed lost, but would not become a shot taken with any kind of regularity.

What other changes do I think the NBA should consider?

One is a playoff seeding change that would allow for some East-West matchups in the playoffs. For the details, along with a spin around the league, click the play button on the podcast.