A pair of trivia questions for all you NBA-heads:
1. Only three players in NBA/ABA history have attempted 500 three-pointers and 500 free throws in the same season – and a fourth will join the club with his next free throw attempt. Name ’em.
2. A player has shot 90% or better at the line in 400 or more free throw attempts in one season 17 times in NBA history; the feat has been accomplished by ten different players. Name ’em. Give yourself credit if you get nine; you won’t get the hardest one unless you’re a real early-fifties history buff. There’s also an eleventh who should be added to this list before season’s end.
Answers below:
Answer to #1:
| PLAYER | Season | 3FGA | FTA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Dampier | 1969-70 | 548 | 538 |
| Michael Adams | 1990-91 | 564 | 529 |
| Paul Pierce | 2001-02 | 520 | 643 |
| Tracy McGrady | 2003-04 | 508 | 499 |
What’s amazing is that Adams did it in just 66 games . . . a tribute to Paul Westhead’s bizarre experiment running his Loyola-Marymount offense in the NBA, since Adams shot just .296 from downtown. This also helps explain how Paul Pierce is generally a good percentage offensive player despite a career shooting percentage below 44% (although he’s stretching it this season). McGrady’s numbers updated through last night’s action.
2.
| # | PLAYER | Season | FT | FTA | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dolph Schayes | 1957-58 | 629 | 696 | .904 |
| 2 | Schayes | 1956-57 | 625 | 691 | .904 |
| 3 | Reggie Miller | 1990-91 | 551 | 600 | .918 |
| 4 | Magic Johnson | 1990-91 | 519 | 573 | .906 |
| 5 | Magic | 1988-89 | 513 | 563 | .911 |
| 6 | Ricky Pierce | 1990-91 | 430 | 471 | .913 |
| 7 | Michael Williams | 1992-93 | 419 | 462 | .907 |
| 8 | Pierce | 1991-92 | 417 | 455 | .916 |
| 8T | Larry Bird | 1986-87 | 414 | 455 | .910 |
| 10 | Bird | 1987-88 | 415 | 453 | .916 |
| 11 | Reggie | 1993-94 | 403 | 444 | .908 |
| 12 | Rick Barry | 1974-75 | 394 | 444 | .904 |
| 13 | Bill Sharman | 1956-57 | 381 | 421 | .905 |
| 14 | Bobby Wanzer | 1951-52 | 377 | 417 | .904 |
| 15 | Calvin Murphy | 1975-76 | 372 | 410 | .907 |
| 16 | Barry | 1977-78 | 378 | 409 | .924 |
| 17 | Reggie | 1999-00 | 373 | 406 | .919 |
#11 should be Predrag Stojakovic, who’s 348 for 377 (a .923 clip) thus far this season.
Stojakovic has an outside chance (slim, but it’s still there) to make the 500 FTA/3FGA club this season.
For his sake, I hope he doesn’t get the refs from the Kings/Lakers series from a few years back…