3
The Big Bricker
December 25, 2008, will go down as a memorable date. After 16 and a half seasons of horrible free-throw technique and hard fouls, Shaquille O’Neal missed free throw #5000. It was a funny coincidence that O’Neal’s Phoenix Suns were playing the San Antonio Spurs, one of the biggest fans of “Hack-a-Shaq.”
With this “record,” Shaq is a bit closer to the “King of Missing,” Wilt Chamberlain (5,805 missed free throws). No other NBA player ever missed 5,000 free throws, while Karl Malone is third on that list with 3,401 missed free throws.
Will Shaq and Wilt lead this list forever? Thanks to a young Dwight Howard the answer should be “NO.” For some reason, the Orlando Magic center is as physical as the other three and also can’t shoot free throws too well, which is exactly the reason why Dwight (career 59.9% free-throw shooting on 8.1 FPG) will be fouled pretty hard before he can even think about a successful dunk.
If Howard keeps shooting like that from the line, he should reach Shaq’s 5,000 mark at the age of 32 and might even be able to “better” Wilt Chamberlain. Dwight: Yes, you can!
You think that’s pretty bad? Well, it can always get worse: For his career, Ben Wallace shoots 41.8% from the line to lead all NBA players with more than 1,200 free throw attempts.
