Worst Free-Throw Shooters in NBA History
Free throws are not easy points for everyone. Jeff Roberson / AP Photo
Midway through the 2007-08 NBA season, about the time when there was a better chance for a lightning strike than Ben Wallace sinking two consecutive free throws, I felt compelled to address the elephant in the gym. “Would you ever consider shooting underhanded?” I asked Big Ben after a practice. After all, countless studies have told us that the “granny style” is the easiest, most scientific-friendly way to shoot uncontested 15-footers, right?
Wallace paused for a moment with a quizzical look on his face. Then he uttered three brutally honest words that told us where the pro game was headed at the time. “That ain’t basketball.”
In other words, it was better to suck but look cool than help your team but look like a sissy. Wallace wasn’t alone, of course. Not since Hall of Famer Rick Barry (career percentage: .900) retired four decades ago has a player shot free throws between his legs on a regular basis. (Big Ben would have had to sink 12,943 freebies in a row to strike The Big Nine-Oh-Oh.)
Meanwhile, while we brag that modern athletes are bigger, stronger and faster these days, league-wide free-throw accuracy hasn’t changed much since the dawn of the shot-clock era. Of the 50 worst free-throw shooters in league history (minimum 400 career attempts), 31 threw up bricks in this millennium. And seven are still active.
These are the all-time suspects, one brick at a time.
50. Darko Milicic
Position: Center/power forward
Career: 2003-13 (11 seasons)
Teams: Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics
Free-throw attempts: 734
Free throws made: 421
Free-throw percentage: .574
Bottom Line: Darko Milicic
Whenever this former No. 2 draft pick launched from the line, it was a shot in the dark.
Were limited chances partly to blame?
In the 2006-07 season, the only one in which the Serbian southpaw had 200-plus attempts, he converted at a career-high 61 percent rate.
49. Toby Kimball
Position: Forward
Career: 1966-1975 (9 seasons)
Teams: Boston Celtics, San Diego Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Kansas City/Omaha Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Jazz
Free-throw attempts: 1,229
Free throws made: 704
Free-throw percentage: .573
Bottom Line: Toby Kimball
Had to be the weather. In three seasons in Sun Diego, he failed to break .500 twice.
His best season (1973-74) came in chilly Philly, where he shot a career-high 69 percent as part of the rotation. At 32 years of age.