“If Giannis Antetokounmpo missed a free throw, his girlfriend would run carrying his son”: Why Bucks star’s offseason mantra to improve his free throw shooting isn’t working

Despite an elaborate training session Giannis Antetokounmpo used in the offseason to improve his free throw shooting, it’s at a career low.

We covered earlier how Giannis trained in the offseason to improve on his free throw conversion. At one point, his coaches would bring his girlfriend onto the court and make her watch him shoot. For every miss by him, Giannis’s partner would run a lap of the entire court.

It killed the Greek Freak to see his loved ones suffer due to his inaccuracy, giving him special motivation to improve. But despite this unconventional training method, we are yet to see it’s results on court. Over the course of 14 regular season games, he’s shooting only 57.5% from the line.

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Things came to a head in the Bucks’ recent 112-109 victory over the Mavs. Giannis scored over 30 points on the night, but shot just 1-of-10 on free throws. He became only the 4th player in recent memory to shoot 10% or less from the line in a game.

What steps is Giannis Antetokounmpo taking to improve his shooting?

Giannis told reporters late on Friday night that he would put in the work to try and improve:

“It’s simple. Just go back. Shoot more. Focus on your technique. Take it step by step. Just shoot more. That’s it. The more you shoot, the more you work on it, the better you get. There’s no secret in that.”

Grind never stops.

Giannis getting free throws up…on the other end Jordan Nwora and Sam Merrill knocking down threes. pic.twitter.com/F2v242zJ7o

— Zora Stephenson (@ZoraStephenson) January 16, 2021

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Giannis Antetokounmpo was spotted out on the court after the game getting in some more reps. On that front, there should be no concern. Giannis has always been an incredibly hard worker. Coach Mike Budenholzer expressed the same sentiment in his post-game interview:

“He’s just got to keep working through the free throw line. Continue to put the time in, grow his confidence and step up and make them.”

As NBA fans, we hope the Greek Freak can get over the hump from the free throw line.