Shaquille O’Neal is known for his many recognizable attributes and one of those was his terrible free-throw shooting – how many free throws did Shaq make in his career?
During his playing days, Shaquille O’Neal was one of the greatest players in the NBA. But he was terrible at free-throw shooting. This has left many fans wondering how many free throws did Shaq make?
Over his 19-year NBA career, Shaquille O’Neal made 5935 of his 11252 attempted free throws. For his career, Shaq shot 52.9% from the free-throw line. This is a below-average number and an aspect of Shaq’s game that brought him down.
O’Neal’s poor free-throw shooting has led to him being targeted during NBA games. Opposing players would foul Shaquille O’Neal on purpose in order to get him to the free-throw line. Players and coaches were afraid of O’Neal’s scoring, not his free-throw shooting.
The tactic of fouling opposing players who shot free throws poorly was eventually called Hack-a-Shaq. This was because of its prevalent use against Shaquille O’Neal. The tactic was used to stop O’Neal’s momentum during crucial periods of play.
Over his 19-year NBA career, Shaquille O’Neal won 4 NBA Championships. He won three NBA championships with Kobe Bryant while on the Los Angeles Lakers and one with Dwyane Wade while on the Miami Heat.
Shaquille O’Neal is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. During his prime, O’Neal was one of the NBA’s most dominant players with his size, power and post moves.
O’Neal was a matchup nightmare and made most NBA centres look small. Kobe Bryant said that if Shaq worked out more and stayed in shape, he could’ve won many more NBA titles.
Read More: