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In basketball, you may recall, the object of the game is to score points.
Style doesn’t count.
Houston Rockets rookie Chinanu Onuaku is taking that to heart with his free throw style. Onuaku made his first career free throws against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night in a 131-115 win.
The power forward came off the bench for eight minutes for the Rockets and got to show off a rare skill at the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Onuaku, as the broadcast explains, was struggling to make free throws traditionally while in college at Louisville. He switched to underhand free throws his freshman year, which I’m sure was a fun little feature college broadcasters loved to pull out when he made it to the line.
Underhanded free throws in the NBA, though, are a bit more rare. It’s pretty great to see him break it out in the pros with ease, even if he said afterwards he was a bit nervous about it.
https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/813592620500795392
The reactions from the crowd tell you how impressive it really was. Even the Rockets bench looked impressed.
Onuaku had six points on the night, making both shots from the field and both free throws he attempted. This isn’t the first time Onuaku has brought out the underhand free throws in a Rockets uniform, but it’s the first time it’s counted in the regular season. If he stays perfect, it’s hard to argue with that kind of success.