Rick Barry says it's 'pathetic' when NBA players can’t shoot over 70 percent from the free throw line
LAS VEGAS -- One of the greatest free throw shooters in NBA history has strong feelings about some of the low-percentage free throw shooters in the NBA today.
NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry attended Sunday’s BIG3 player draft and dropped a slight dig at some of today’s players when asked why more haven’t adopted his signature underhanded free throw form.
“The bottom line is, they have an aversion to wanting to try the underhanded free throw,” Barry said. “I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t try anything to try to get better and I don’t think your personal pride should come into play.
“There’s stuff out there to help these guys if they would look for it and be willing to get better. It’s pathetic if you can’t shoot 70 percent from the free throw line.”
There’s a long, long list of NBA players who didn’t hit that mark during the 2016 season, including four-time MVP LeBron James (67 percent), and All-Star big men Dwight Howard (53 percent) and DeAndre Jordan, who had the lowest free throw shooting percentage of any player who averaged more than 30 minutes a game at 48 percent.
Barry finished his career as an 89.98 percent shooter from the line, good for fourth all time, so he knows a thing or two about knocking shots down from the charity stripe. But he also knows not everyone is keen on shooting underhanded, so if you aren’t going to listen to him, at least listen to his son, who helped Jordan out of a slump earlier this season.
“They have to figure out their way to do it. If they don’t want to do it my way, they should find my son Scooter, who has an unbelievable new technology in a shooting sleeve with sensors … in three sessions with DeAndre Jordan he had him shooting over 70 percent and he didn’t keep working at it. It’s amazing.”
