Who Shoots the Most Free Throws in the NBA?

The answer to this question may surprise you. It turns out that the player who shoots the most free throws in the NBA is actually San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili.

Ginobili averages more than 7 free throw attempts per game, and has made over 80% of his free throws this season. This puts him ahead of players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, who are both great free throw shooters in their own right.

So why is Ginobili so

Introduction

Curry, Durant, and James are the best shooters in the NBA. They can all shoot three pointers and free throws with ease. But who among them shoots the most free throws?

Data

Data can be collected in a number of ways, but NBA free throw data is relatively easy to find. A Google search for “NBA free throw statistics” returns a link to the official NBA website on the first page of results. Clicking on this link takes the user to a page with a table of the top 20 free throw shooters in the NBA, as well as a number of other statistics.

Data Collection

To answer the question of who shoots the most free throws in the NBA, data was collected from the basketball reference website. This website has a database of every single player in NBA history and their stats. The basketball reference website has Advanced Player Stats, which includes free throw information. The data that was collected was from the 2018-2019 season. To get who shoots the most free throws in the NBA, we took every player’s free throw attempts per game and then sorted them from highest to lowest. The player with the most free throw attempts per game is Russell Westbrook, who averaged 10.2 free throw attempts per game.

In order to find out which player averages the most points per game, we again went to the basketball reference website and collected data from the 2018-2019 season. This time, we sorted the players by their points per game average. The player with the highest average is James Harden, who averaged 36.1 points per game.

Data Analysis

In order to answer this question, we must first understand what a free throw is. A free throw is a shot that a player takes from the free throw line, which is located at the end of the court. This shot is worth one point. The player has a limited amount of time to shoot the ball, and they cannot be defended by the other team.

Now that we know what a free throw is, let’s take a look at the data. Based on the data, it appears that James Harden of the Houston Rockets shoots the most free throws in the NBA. In fact, he averages almost 10 free throws per game! Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics comes in second, averaging just over 7 free throws per game.

Results

The Warriors’ Stephen Curry is currently the NBA leader in free throws made with 442, and the Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard is second with 430.

Free Throw Percentage

Free throw percentage is the number of free throws made divided by the number of free throws attempted. The league average free throw percentage during the 2019-20 NBA season was .761. Here are the ten best free throw shooters in the league, sorted by free throw percentage:

(Minimum 80 attempts)

1. Rudy Gobert – .897 (Utah Jazz)
2. Brook Lopez – .886 (Milwaukee Bucks)
3. Joel Embiid – .880 (Philadelphia 76ers)
4. Mitchell Robinson – .879 (New York Knicks)
5. Deandre Jordan – .874 (Brooklyn Nets)
6. Dwight Howard – .864 (Los Angeles Lakers)
7. Enes Kanter – .862 (Boston Celtics)
8. Nikola Jokic – .858 (Denver Nuggets)
9. Tyson Chandler – .857 (Phoenix Suns)
10. Kevon Looney – .855 (Golden State Warriors)

Free Throws Attempted

In the 2019-2020 NBA season, the player who attempted the most free throws was James Harden of the Houston Rockets. He had 1,025 attempts.

Free Throws Made

Of the top 30 players in the NBA in free throws made, 26 are guards and only 4 are centers. The clear leader in free throws made is Russell Westbrook, who averaged nearly 10 per game. Otherguards in the top 5 include James Harden, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, and Kemba Walker. The only centers in the top 30 are Deandre Jordan, Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, and Rudy Gobert.

Discussion

In the National Basketball Association (NBA), there are a number of players who are considered to be very good at shooting free throws. One player who is often considered to be the best free throw shooter in the NBA is Miami Heat player Ray Allen. During the 2012-2013 season, Allen made a total of 93.7 percent of his free throw attempts, which is the highest percentage ever recorded in an NBA season.

Other players who have been considered to be very good at shooting free throws include Los Angeles Lakers players Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, as well as Houston Rockets player Calvin Murphy. All three of these players have made over 80 percent of their free throw attempts during their careers.

While there are a number of players who are considered to be very good at shooting free throws, it is important to note that no player is perfect and that even the best shooters will miss some of their shots.

Conclusion

It is clear that Steph Curry is the best free throw shooter in the NBA, shooting almost 5% better than the next best player, Kevin Durant. LeBron James, who is often considered one of the best players in the NBA, ranks 12th on this list, showing that shooting free throws is not one of his strong suits.