The rules were changed, and it was actually stated when they were changed, to create more driving to the basket. The thinking is that the most exciting play in basketball is someone like MJ or Dr. J beating his man and going one on one with Olajuwon or Walton at the rim.
Problem is, paradoxically, removing contact on the perimeter actually served to free up the three point shooters. A guy like Kevin Durant is unguardable with todays rules. Too tall, too high a release, he is just going to shoot it in your face. If you could put a hand on him though, the guy weighs like 98 lbs so any little nudge or bump as he sets for his shot and a 3 pointer, at least, probably isn't going in.
So, once teams figured it out, the rule change did the opposite of what was intended. It led to more outside shots.
A side note is it is interesting that guys like Dr. J, Jordan and Dominique Wilkins had notably flat shots. I don't think this was intentional but was because their game was going to the hoop in traffic and out jumping guys to get their shot off. The less arc on the shot, the less travel time and the less adjustments you have to make to compensate for any drifting. So a flat shot helps these guys score but probably hurts them at the free throw line or on open shots. So I bet, for example, if Jordan developed his game with today's rules, he would have had more arc on his shot and been a higher percentage free throw and 3 point shooter.
Jordan was an 83% free throw shooter, only 30+ guys in the NBA today have a better percentage.
I think he would have been in the 90's.
The guy was the best mid range scorer probably ever.
Relive one of the greatest moments in NBA postseason history as Michael Jordan hangs in the air to knock down “The Shot” over Craig Ehlo to win the series du...
Ehlo doesn't make a bad recovery. Exactly when MJ is ready to release the shot you can see Ehlo's arm directly between him and the basket blocking his vision. Jordan doesn't release it anyway. He holds it, lets Ehlo fly by and then lets it go on the way down. Throughout, you can see how Jordan is fading left.
The side view shows he lands a foot or two to the left of where he jumps, so to hit that shot he needs to correct for that (he jumps maybe 3 feet, arc on the shot looks at least that, so if he shoots directly at the basket it is going to go far enough left to miss).
So he hits a double clutch, on the way down, fading left, 17 footer to win a playoff series on the road against a clearly superior team.
Nobody else hits that shot. Of course, nobody else would have attempted it. They probably would have released the shot when they normally do and with no vision shot a brick. Bird, with Ehlo on him, probably would have gone to his spot, received the pass and shot a fade away in his face.
This is why MJ is considered the goat and you'll have to wait until those that watched him die before you'll get another winner. MJ did things only he could do with enough regularity to win championships. He gets style points to go along with his championships and stats.