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NBA's Lone Constant: Free-Throw Stats

NBA's success rate has hovered around 75% for half-century

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 4, 2009 7:53 AM CST

(Newser) – Basketball's free-throw statistics have stayed steady at a rate that amazes academics, the New York Times reports. While most aspects of basketball and other sports have seen records steadily edge up over the years, free-throw shooting hit a plateau of a 75% success rate in the NBA more than 50 years ago and has barely budged since then.

Improvements in physiology, technology, and equipment have no effect on the simple act of shooting from the foul line, experts note, leaving coaching as just about the only place to make improvements—and few teams focus on it. "A lot of coaches give it lip service," says one, "but when you say that games are won and lost at the free-throw line, you better back it up."

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (1)]

Florida State's Alysha Harvin sinks the game-winning free throw with 8.7 seconds left in an NCAA college basketball game against Miami on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009, in Miami. (AP Photo/Miguel A. Olivella Jr)

Ken Mink, 73, prepares to shoot a free throw for Roane State in the team's 93-42 win over King College, Nov. 3, 2008. Free throw statistics have remained unchanged since Mink's playing heyday. (AP Photo/Roane State Community College, Owen Driskill)

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, watches his free throw after being fouled by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half of a NBA basketball game on Friday, Feb 20, 2009, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Darren Hauck)

Detroit Shock forward Katie Smith shoots a free throw against the Minnesota Lynx in a basketball game on Sunday, May 18, 2008. Women's free throw statistics have been close to men's for decades. (AP Photo/Hannah Foslien)

Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor shoots a free throw against Oklahoma in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Monday, Feb. 23, 2009 in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

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It’s unbelievable. There’s almost no difference. Fifty years. This is mind-boggling.
- Larry Wright, a professor of statistics at Columbia

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NBA's Lone Constant: Free-Throw Stats