In today's basketball game, statistics have become an important part. Not only will the majority of fans measure the ability level of players through data comparison, but even the players themselves are paying more and more attention to statistics. In the NBA league, the level of detail in statistics has always been amazing, and some games in the ancient period, we can analyze and compare through data. Today, we might as well pick some special player stats to look back at their interesting stories on the pitch:
To hit the rate, not pose:
3818, Rick Barry, 1965-66 to 1979-80
Unlike the traditional free throw posture, Rick Barry takes a special posture: when he stands on the free throw line, he will hold the ball in both hands, slightly bend his knees, and then throw the ball high into the basket with his arm and wrist at the same time. It is with this bizarre shooting posture that Barry has been crowned "Free Throw King" for nine consecutive seasons. In his career, he made a total of 4243 free throws, shooting 3818 of them, shooting 90% of them. When he officially retired in 1980, the record has since gone down in league history. It is worth mentioning that although Barry is known throughout the league for his unique free throw posture and accurate free throw shooting rate, since then, no player in the league has adopted his free throw posture, and even his four sons have refused to imitate it.
To score, not to rebound:
54 points, Damon Stoudemire, Portland Trail Blazers, January 14, 2005
In this game, Stoudemire not only did not contribute a rebound, but only one assist and one steal, and his entire contribution to the team was reflected in the scoring. After the game, Stoudemire asked the staff around him for a list of match statistics, not only because his stats were a bit weird, but also because it was the game he scored best. The small guard shot 20-of-32 from the game, including eight three-pointers and six free throws, to score 54 points. Another Trail Blazers guard, Van Exel, scored 23 points in the game, but their team eventually lost 106-112 to the New Orleans Hornets.
To have three pairs, not to be rational:
Ricky Davis, Cleveland Cavaliers, March 16, 2003
In this 2003 game, six seconds before the finale, the Cavaliers led the Jazz by 25 points. At this time, Davis received a pass from his teammate and was ready to shoot at the Jazz's basket. The reason is that Davis has already scored 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, and only needs one more rebound to achieve a triple-double. Seeing this, Deshaun Stevenson hugged the guy who had lost his mind for the sake of statistics before his shot, for which he was blown off by the referee for a foul. Davis ended the game with two free throws, and his wish for a triple-double was ultimately not met.
To shoot, do not hit the rate:
17 times, Tim Hardaway, Golden State Warriors, December 27, 1991
The five-time All-Star is the second player in league history to achieve the fastest 5,000 points and 2,500 assists (the player before him was Oscar Robertson). For Hardaway, scoring is not a difficult thing to do. But in the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 27, 1991, he couldn't find the basket. He ended up setting an embarrassing record with all 17 shots missed. Despite Hardaway's extremely dysfunctional play in this game, his Warriors team eventually won the game 106-102.
To be affectionate, but also to hit the rate:
87.7%, Jeff Hornasek, 1986–87 to 1999–00
Before each free throw, Honasek habitually tapped his right cheek three times. According to himself, he did so in a silent greeting to his three mischievous and cute children, who had repeatedly begged their father to greet them in public in front of the TELEVISION. Honasek did not want to do this, but could not withstand the repeated begging of the children, and finally had to choose this way of compromise. He told the children that he would pat his cheek three times, which meant he loved them. Hornasek left the league after the end of the 1999-00 season and set a record for the league's highest free throw shooting in his final season.
To fly kisses, not to love:
517 times, Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets, 2002–03
Kidd used to give the basket a big flying kiss before each free throw. He once said in an interview that he was doing so as an expression of love to his wife, Jomana. But it was the woman he said he loved, who was slapped by him one day in 2001. In that incident, Jomana called the police on 911, and when the paramedics arrived and asked her if she needed to treat the wound, Jomana said, "It's nothing, compared to what I've been before, this injury is only pediatric." Over the next six months, Kidd received expert counseling for an emotional control course and returned to the game to continue his flying kiss performance. But it's worth mentioning that later, Kidd abruptly stopped his flying kiss performance in front of the free throw, supposedly because his son imitated his father's behavior in the basketball game of the juvenile group, which caused a penalty violation.
To have three points, but also to win:
45.4%, Steve Cole, 1988–89 to 2002–03
Although Steve Kerr is not a huge star in the league, the 1.91-meter-tall guard has left his mark on league history with a beautiful three-pointer. In the NBA League's single-season three-point shooting percentage rankings, Kerr alone occupies the first, third and fifth seats. He topped the list with 52.4 percent three-point shooting from the Bulls in 1994-95, and it was this unique on-court skill that allowed Kerr to win five championship diamond rings in his 14-year career in professional basketball.
To score, don't take free throws:
578 times, Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia, 1967-68 season
For the omnipotent Chamberlain, his most fatal weakness is his terrible free throw technique. In order to improve his free throw shooting rate, he has tried a variety of free throw improvement methods, but it has never worked, and what is even more bizarre is that the longer he has played in the league, the worse his free throw accuracy. In the 1967–68 season, he made 932 free throws, but only 578 of them. He ranked first in the league in terms of points, rebounds and assists that year, except for the free throws, which was particularly incongruous. Throughout Chamberlain's career, his shooting percentage (54%) is also higher than his free throw shooting rate (51.1%).