Basketball is a beautiful sport that was first played over 130 years ago. It took off in popularity in the 1980's first with the additions of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson to the NBA and then Michael Jordan. If you could freeze the evolution of the game to a point in the mid to late 80's you'd have the perfect sport.
The NBA had instituted the 3-point shot into its game to begin the decade, but as Bob Ryan recently recollected it was more of a gimmick shot. Elite 3-point shooters like Bird only attempted 1 to 3 shots from beyond the arc a game.