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Jeff Green nearly breaks NBA record for longest shot, but…

Baron Davis is credited with the longest basket in NBA history – an 89-footer:

Jeff Green nearly broke the record against the Wizards last night:

There were just two problems:

1. Green wasn’t quite far enough back. Considering the court is 94 feet long and the free-throw line is 15 feet from the baseline, I’d call Green’s attempt 86 feet.

2. Green didn’t get the shot off in time. By rule, it’s possible for a player to take a jumper in 0.3 seconds, but that doesn’t mean he necessarily he does it that quickly.

Sometimes, players intentionally delay for a moment before end-of-quarter heaves, because they don’t want to hurt their shooting percentage on a low-likelihood shot. I don’t think Green did that here – he had to make sure he had a good grip before flinging the ball that far and accurately – but he didn’t definitely didn’t maximize his urgency.

By the way, the Celtics lost in overtime, which might not have been necessary if Green had rushed a little more. Then again, if he moved more quickly, maybe the shot wouldn’t have gone in.