Gone are the days of Hack-a-Shaq in the NBA, thankfully. Rule changes have minimized the use of that strategy. Still, several of the league's worst free-throw shooters in the last decade made a ton of trips to the line before 2016 because of their struggles and that loophole.
Ben Simmons
At the free-throw line, Simmons made only 59.1 percent of his 1,411 attempts through 2022-23. In that season specifically—albeit in a small sample—he connected on just 43.9 percent. While his overall skill set atones for this particular issue, Simmons has never shot better than 62.1 percent in any season.
-
Mason Plumlee
Plumlee's free-throw percentages have varied wildly. He shot 62.6 percent as a rookie, then dropped to a 49.5 clip in his second year. Plumlee finished with a career-best 66.9 clip in 2020-21 and proceeded to collapse down to 39.2 in the following season.
-
Bismack Biyombo
Nearly 90 percent of his career attempts are within 10 feet. That certainly explains his 56.7 free-throw rate in the last decade. Biyombo isn't often at the stripe anyway, but his teams will gladly focus on his rebounding and defense.
-
Dwight Howard
When rules allowed the Hack-a-Howard approach, he twice attempted 39 free throws in a game. That broke the previous mark of 36 that Will Chamberlain set—and also matched on his 100-point night—in 1962. Obviously, there was a reason for it. Amid a career with a 56.7 free-throw clip, Howard shot 54.5 percent since 2016.
Link to Original Article (https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10096711-the-8-worst-nba-free-throw-shooters-of-the-last-decade)