One of the most dominant NBA players to ever lace up his shoes, Shaquille O’Neal played in the league for 19 seasons (1992 – 2011) averaging 23.7 PPG, 10.9 RPG, and 2.3 APG while shooting 58.2% from the field. A former NBA MVP, he also has 4 championships and 3 finals MVPs to his name. However, his otherwise perfect career is marred by his poor free-throw shooting ability.
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Shaq’s poor free-throw shooting is a well-documented fact. He shot just around 52.7%. While his dunking abilities are legendary, it’s a whole other world when it comes to shooting the ball from the charity stripe.
His jumper never looked smooth and he had an unusual shooting form. As his career progressed, there were no visible signs of improvement even with the harsh criticisms. Even at the FT line.
The unusual shooting form was nothing new in the NBA. One that is especially talked about is the underhand free throw technique. A form applied by players such as Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain. Despite the ridiculous nature of the shot, it proved to be very efficient for the mentioned players. So, how come Shaq never gave it a shot? Listen to what he had to say:
“Because it’s boring” Shaquille O’Neal has a career 52.7% free throw percentage pic.twitter.com/kZuhvw0NmI
— Insider Business (@BusinessInsider) March 22, 2023
How underhand free-throw shooting helped players?
Underhand free throw shooting has been referred to by players as the “girl’s way of shooting” or “granny style”. This is one of the major reasons, players are embarrassed to even try it out. Though the shot doesn’t look pretty, it has proved to be highly effective for some players like Rick Barry.
He led the league seven times in free throw percentage and finished with a career of 90% free throw shooting. These numbers are insane if you think about the mechanics of the shot. So what made it work? When asked about it Rick said:
“The mechanics of shooting the underhand free throw makes so much more sense because everything is done—it’s not one motion, then another motion, it’s a fluid motion, the ball has a softer touch when it goes up there”
The video from Business Insider goes on to explain some of the finer technicalities of the shot. The usual shooting form spins the ball twice before it reaches the basket, however, with underarm shooting, the ball undergoes 3-4 spins thereby providing a softer touch if it hits the rim.
Wilt Chamberlain was another beneficiary of this style of shooting. He increased his FT% by a whopping 10.9 percentage points when switching from the regular motion to underhand. Shaquille O’Neal however, never liked it.
Shaquille O’Neal never liked the idea of underhand shooting
Shaq’s large stature is only matched by his larger-than-life personality. The ‘Superman’ as he is commonly referred to is a title that can be extended to his various endeavors off the court as well. He does it all – entrepreneurship, DJ, acting, writing, TV hosting, and podcasts. Shaquille O’Neal is a one-man swiss army knife.
Hence, it’s no surprise that he would feel the unusual form is “boring” or “uncool”. Shaq however, has a different perspective on his lack of free-throwing ability. In the video above, he goes on to say:
“It was the man upstairs way to keep me humble. ‘Cause imagine me with the game that I had, shooting like Steph Curry from the free throws line. I would probably be a difficult man to deal with”
Well, there is no arguing that! Shaq’s lack of free throw percentage led to the ‘Hack -a- Shaq” strategy where teams would intentionally foul players with low free throw percentages.
The strategy continues to be used by teams in the NBA even today. As time has passed, we can only go back and wonder what would have been if Shaq had worked on his free throw percentage. The mere idea would put fear in opponents’ hearts.
