Free throws

In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court (the free throw line; informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team. Each successful free throw is worth one point.

Free throws can normally be shot at a high percentage by good players. In the NBA, most players make 70–80% of their attempts. The league's best shooters (such as Steve Nash, Rick Barry, Ray Allen, José Calderón, Stephen Curry, Reggie Miller, Kevin Durant, and Dirk Nowitzki) can make roughly 90% of their attempts over a season, while notoriously poor shooters (e.g. Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Andre Drummond, Ben Wallace, Shaquille O'Neal, and Dennis Rodman) may struggle to make 50% of them. During a foul shot, a player's foot must be completely behind the foul line. If a player lines up with part of his or her foot on the line, a violation is called and the shot doesn't count. Foul shots are worth one point.

Rick Barry and youngest Canyon Barry, both career 90% shooters who used an unusual underhand method, believes that 80% is the minimum for a player to be considered good at the free throw. Mark Price, who broke Barry's career record, states that 75% is the minimum. Tall players often shoot free throws poorly, though theoretically taller players should be better at making them. One possible explanation for this is that the high release point of their shots can cause them to stand overly erect. Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain made just 51.1% of his free throw attempts, one of the lowest percentages of all time, and the poor free throw shooting of players such as Shaquille O'Neal and Ben Wallace has led to the 'Hack-a-Shaq' and other intentional fouling tactics. On the other hand, there have also been big men who have been prolific scorers from free throws, who not surprisingly also have good outside shooting range. Some examples include Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki who, at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), has a career average of 88% (.879) and Yao Ming who, at 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m), had a career average of 83% (.833).

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