It’s the summer, so there are a lot of stories percolating which would normally be ignored during the nightly games of a regular season. Instead, we’re left to ponder all sorts of bizarre items, like the supposition Andre Drummond would improve on the 37 percent free throw mark of his rookie season if he shot them underhand instead of the traditional way he’s employed so far with little to show for his efforts.
This was the reasoning behind Ethan Sherwood-Strauss’ open letter to Drummond for ESPN. He thinks Drummond is the perfect player to try the underhand free throw. The reasoning is that Andre is just kooky enough so that he could own the more uncomfortable aspects of shooting a free throw in a non-traditional way.
Drummond was not enthusiastic about the proposition, and even tweeted so.
Let me make this clear…. I'm not shooting free throws underhand.. #Relax
— Andre Drummond (@DRE_DRUMMOND_) August 17, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Then he blocked Strauss from following him on Twitter.
Well, that certainly went well. pic.twitter.com/RhXCZkxGat
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) August 17, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Drummond — as most Pistons fans already know — shot a laughable 37.1 percent at the line last season. It was the only black mark on a rookie season that’s got pretty much everyone excited for his follow-up after the additions of Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings this summer. But between Drummond’s surprising rookie campaign that saw him shatter pre-draft conceptions of his motor with every high-intensity dunk and stuff, were those pesky foul shots.
This obviously isn’t the first time a large center has struggled with a shot that most grade schoolers can hit at least half of the time. Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain are the two biggest names since they’re both Hall of Fame players who won titles and dominated on the block, but who also couldn’t make half of their free throws. There are other, lesser-known, players who have struggled as well, like Chris Dudley, but for the most part people point to Shaq and Wilt as the prime examples of players who struggled with such a basic component of the game, and who, like Strauss writes, may have helped their teams win more games if they’d been able to shoot them near the league average.
Shaq couldn’t handle it because he thought the form looked goofy. Though O’Neal was an all-timer, his teams lost games in eight playoff series in which average free throw shooting from O’Neal would have made up the difference. Imagine how great Shaq would have been had he succeeded with the underhand style. With, say, 80 percent free throw shooting from the line, Shaq easily could have been the best player ever.
It’s hard to argue against the numbers — though we’re not sure “Shaq easily could have been the best player ever” had he shot better from the line — but what Strauss forgets to remember is Drummond’s age, and the insecurity that age brings. He’s also forgetting to look at how many players have adopted the underhand style since Rick Barry shot around 90 percent from the line with the underhand style: none. No one of merit has ever done so since Barry.
There’s a reason too, and it’s even more relevant in today’s Instagram/Twitter NBA.
Keep reading to see why Barry’s personality was uniquely suited to the underhand free throw form.
Today’s NBA players just don’t want to get clowned; they don’t want to be laughed at. While Drummond might get a chuckle from fans and teammates when he throws up an air-ball on consecutive free throw attempts, imagine the ridicule from other players if he’d thrown that air-ball shooting underhand?
Strauss’ reasoning was sound because Drummond does have a pretty goofy (in a good way) IG page. What Strauss forgot, besides Drummond’s inexperience, was the basic tenet of today’s NBA: don’t look like an idiot. Perception is everything in the league now, with players getting chummy with their opponents in an effort to fit in. Since the NBA is so much younger than it was in the past, the various cliques and Mean Girls mentality can sometimes rear it’s petty head.
Jocks are a fickle bunch and Drummond would likely turn into a laughingstock if the underhand free throws didn’t immediately pay dividends. He’s already uncomfortable on the line as is; shooting underhand would augment that anxiety.
It’s important to remember who the player was that popularized the notion that an underhand free throw can work over the long run. Ricky Barry is in the Hall of Fame, and as previously mentioned he’s one of the all-time great free throw shooters. But he was also a loner that didn’t care one iota what opponents, teammates, coaches or anyone thought — at least during his playing career. He played the ABA’s San Francisco Warriors off the NBA’s Golden State Warriors as one of the first professional athletes to realize his worth to both leagues, and so helped usher in the salary explosion of the 1970s. Strauss is a ‘Dubs fan, so he’s probably all-to-familiar with the Barry who led the Warriors to their only NBA title in 1975. But he was also an opinionated guy who many still remember as a jerk.
Probably the best place to understand the prickly nature of Barry’s personality is in the award-winning Sports Illustrated profile of him written by Tony Kornheiser 30 years ago. While Kornheiser starts the piece off with the iconic line, “Rick Barry has a problem. He would like people to regard him with love and affection, as they do Jerry West and John Havlicek. They do not,” during his playing days all Barry wanted to do was kill the competition, he didn’t care how he did it, either. That sort of domineering personality certainly rubbed other players the wrong way, but for Barry it also allowed him to shoot free throws unencumbered by what others might have thought. It worked for him, so what did he care how he looked to outsiders?
But in today’s NBA, perception is often a lot more substantial than reality. Being cool is almost as important as being good and productive, and for some players it is more important. We don’t think Andre Drummond is one of those players at all, but it’s a tall order to change to a style that hasn’t been tried by an NBA regular since the 1970s.* Drummond might switch to the underhand approach if he doesn’t improve on his disastrous rookie rate. But if he does make the switch, he’ll have to endure the catcalls and other juvenile reactions that will likely come as a result of trying something so awkward to most NBA fans and players.
Drummond just turned 20 years old a little over a week ago, and the stigma attached to the underhand free throw is one he’d certainly like to avoid while he embarks on an NBA career. We can understand that reaction — though his blocking of Strauss on Twitter merely confirms his inexperience. Compounding Andre Drummond’s free throw woes with the underhand motion simply doesn’t work when you factor in all the other external elements that would come along with the switch. While Strauss’ heart and head were in the right place, it’s unlikely any contemporary player who struggles at the line will possess the resolute intensity of Barry that’s needed to try something so different while ignoring the reaction from other players and fans.
There are probably players who could make an underhand free throw work; players with the confidence to shrug off the fans and the jokes from other players. But it’s not going to be Drummond, even if, as Strauss points out, he doesn’t have a whole lot to lose by trying. Except, the new approach could compound his apprehension on the line, and that won’t help anyone shoot better. It’s a lot to ask of a 20-year-old.
Rick Barry is one of the greatest players of all-time, and certainly one the most accurate free throw shooters in the history of the game. But more than that, he was also a stubborn player and person who refused to exhibit anything resembling humility. Maybe that rubbed players, coaches and fans the wrong way, and it certainly cost Barry endorsements and goodwill from his peers, but it was the perfect personality trait for a guy to shoot underhand free throws. That sort of demeanor doesn’t really exist in the NBA today, which is why you’re unlikely to see an underhand motion from the line any time in the near future.
*If there’s someone we’re forgetting, let us know in the commments.
What do you think?
Follow Spencer on Twitter at @countcenci.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
