SGA leads the league in free throw attempts over the last two seasons, with 1,552 FTA. Second place has 425 fewer FTA.
image credit to Cowherd YouTube
He is the only player to be in the top three FTA/game over the last two regular seasons.
What is this without playoffs? Dont think those should be included because he played more games than anyone other than the pacers.
I went ahead and did the math for you. For the last 2 years, SGA shot 1,283 FTs in the regular season. Luka shot 1,040. Shai played 30 more games between the two seasons. If you add Luka’s averages to those 30 games, he shot 1,313 FTs. If SGA and Luka played the same amount of games the last two seasons, Luka would have shot 30 more FTs.
If you look at per 36 which makes more sense than per game since okc have been so dominant that sga plays fewer mins per game, sga is higher than luka like 0.5 higher. They shoot about the same tbh
Can we get mad at both players for flopping?
Foreigners ruining our sacred league
They took our lobs!
De derk our yobs!
Dir de derbs
Get in the pile
We need immediate 100% tariffs on all foreign basketball players.
No thank you lol
Let’s make an exception for French centers
They always make exceptions for these things. I think you’re on to something.
Petition to change Wemby’s name to The Freedom Fry
What about Belgian forwards?
Dyrus about to campaign on anti-immigration rhetoric
I mean, Manu and Divac were flopping pioneers, so that tracks
Common thread throughout eras is all these floppers dip their freedom fries in mayo.
Harden dips his face in titty glitter.
Free Hartenstein!
You wrong for that
There are different kinds of foul drawing.
Making the defender bite on a jump fake, and bouncing of opponents pretending to get shot, are two very different ways
Im not saying each player does one of the things exclusively, buuuut one of them are probably more likely to do one of them than the other
There are levels to it thought both players drive alot and get contact only one acts like he was hit with a shotgun pellet.
A lot of NBA players exaggerated contact very few constantly put on a raspberry level acting show.
Some Halo headshot physics
No, you must choose who you hate most and concentrate all fire on them. Getting mad at both dilutes the hate and weakens the argument that the league is rigged on behalf of one of them.
You really should just ignore the people saying the league is rigged. Think that’s such a cop out to this whole discussion, which is largely in good faith. Shai just gets the most attention because he’s the best player in the world on the best team in the world for multiple years in a row.
We all know there’s a bunch of guys doing the same shit. Harden had his time, Brunson had his, Embiid had his, etc. As soon as the Lakers are relevant again Luka will get his.
i genuinely thing a big part of it is how damn stupid he looks when he does it, and then sits/lies on the court afterward.
I think the good argument is diluted by accusations of fraud.
I think the rules need to be changed to make this playstyle unprofitable to players so we don’t have to watch it. There would be a lot of love for that.
True. I hate watching it as well. IMO is hard to discredit a competitor for taking an advantage in competition short of actively trying to injure other players. The NBA’s rules need an overhaul. With the current rules with the amount of flopping and carrying has gotten out of hand.
And illegal screens. Defense is seriously hampered
This is what I don’t get, can we hate them equally
I hate Luka specifically because of all the bitching he does. He gets so many calls as it is!
Two of the worst offenders. Shai, Luka, Brunson, Embiid, the list goes on. All these dudes are a stain on the sport when they get to flopping and grifting.
It kills me inside every time I see someone flop their head back with no contact. Sad that this is practiced and taught in their training.
They wouldn’t be doing it if the refs didn’t call it. The game is too fast for 3 refs to keep up. And it goes for the other side too. OKC’s coaching staff are smart enough to game the system. You can grab and hold as long as the refs don’t have the angle to see it.
I’d like to see the league add a 4th ref on the floor to see if it improves the quality of the calls. 4 refs means less running, less ground to cover, less area to monitor, etc. That should mean call accuracy should improve and flopping should reduce.
Leagues fault for not enforcing the rules of the game. Nba has to step up and do something about the refereeing
Idk why but it seems like flopping is less a part of lukas game than sga. Raw FTA isn’t really equal to each other. Could be bc I haven’t seen luka play recently tho
Because Luka utilizes tons of pump fakes to get players to jump into him and then he shoots. It’s the same tactic that Jimmy Butler or Brunson uses. I think most hoopers would also consider it a “fair” foul bait. If you’re playing good defence you wouldn’t have gotten tricked by the fake.
Shai’s flops are often Shai initiating contact while he’s pretending to shoot, e.g. jumping into a defender while throwing the ball into the air. These are the types of flops that’d start a fight in pick-up because they’re not a “real” basketball move. It’s entirely reliant on pretty ridiculous reffing.
People used to get mad at Luka back when the mavericks were actually good (2024).
Shai is also more efficient than Luka, so his free throws made is higher.
How good your team is and how good you are at free throws is what determines people getting mad. (No one gets mad at Giannis when he has 20+ free throw games)
While Shai drives a loot more than Luka.
But Luka has more “gravity” and draws more defenders on every single possession… and Luka is more involved per laker possession when he is on the floor (though SGA is close when he is on the floor for OKC). Plus, Luka has been a Laker — which everyone swears gets more calls. So if you account for that, Luka probably gets less on the Mavericks.
It’s really not as simple as you are making it.
I cannot tell if this is a memepost or not, but for the record Shai was getting tripled last night.
Yeah we all saw the clip of 3 dudes watching sga from a distance play wacky inflatable tube man
It’s like they only watch highlights
Why do you people who self admittedly don’t watch the game talk about it?
Plus Luka is white and on the Lakers, so he really shouldn’t be criticized as much as SGA.
Honestly the baiting isnt the issue. The frustration comes from Dort and Caruso doing everything and not getting called for it (and winning while I dont like any of their players)
I’m upset at how much this made me laugh.
Not really that much more. They’re both some of the top drivers in the league, as are all high usage guards.
Driving is just getting past your defender off the dribble from the perimeter. It has nothing to do with shooting or getting to the rim/paint.
Shai falls on the ground a loooooot more than Luka too
I think volume hurts SGA more, regardless of average, because there is just more to see, overall.
Lots of people who don’t understand anything about stats or basketball just see Free Throw = Bad. That is the reason why every major clip page like house of highlights posts Shai clips and gets 100k likes every time. It’s every casuals favorite opinion right now.
To be fair a large part of the SGA hate is the way he flops. Similar to Embiid guy is flailing and falling to the ground constantly. Its the number of calls compounded with the obvious exaggeration that is extra annoying to watch.
Luka flops too but not as “performative” I’d say. The bigger issue with him is the constant bitching to the refs but he definitely gets called out for that.
These “you don’t understand ball” comments are so pretentious and obnoxious to read, but okay almighty ball-knower, tell me more about why I should actually enjoy watching free throws and players foul-baiting.
I like when someone whose been watching basketball since way back when Steph was winning championships. And think it’s a flex. Like bitch I watched Bird vs Magic but I’d never wave my cock around becuae of it.
You just did, ya weird naked wanker!
This debate is so fucking obnoxious. The dude flops. Sorry. “Well, actually, if you look at this using advanced methods of trigonometry and biophysics, x player is actually worse.”
is getting the average of something that complex to you lil bro? smooth brain redditor
Damn.
They are both flopaholics.
Appreciate the relevant statistical analysis. You do watch the games though right? the Gumby folding theatrics on every single contested shot/drive/play are unequivocally damning evidence. While Luka may have more fouls drawn per minute played- this argument is what-about-ism guised as statistical evidence. Luka isn’t even playing right now lmao…. “I did some calcs in excel” AND WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER GUY OMGZZZ
Free throw merchant
They are both egregious foul baiters who make it part of their primary offensive strategy.
Ausar guards Luka with his arms behind his back so he doesn’t try to rip swim at every possible second, particularly when trying to drive just outside the arc to draw 3 foul shots.
It’s absolutely absurd.
luka is a flopper too. this doesn’t help your point
Also FTA/game would be better than total FTA. Shai plays a lot, but there are a few stars with more FTA per game
SGA has never led the league in FTA/game in the regular season or playoffs despite leading the league in drives per game the last two years
He got 3 FTA last game and made two in total, and despite being cold overall last night he still won by 18 without JDub playing.
FTA/GAME LEADERS (RS/Playoffs/Combined):
2018: Harden/LeBron/Harden
2019: Harden/Giannis/Harden
2020: Harden/Luka/Harden
2021: Embiid/Embiid/Embiid
2022: Embiid/Giannis/Embiid
2023: Giannis/Embiid/Giannis
2024: Giannis/Embiid/Giannis
2025: Giannis/Giannis/Giannis
2026: Luka/Paolo/Luka
It doesn’t fit the narrative
Just put SGA and free throw in the title guaranteed 500 comments lol
Easy karma farm
A free throw, if you will
only took 2 hours
Karma drawn
Same with the posts highlighting LeBron’s accomplishments at 41. Not because his accomplishments don’t deserve praise and dedicated posts, but because the vast majority of the people flocking to those threads aren’t there to say “wow that’s pretty cool” but instead already cracking their fingers ready to start another GOAT debate for either him or Jordan lol.
I feel different about positive things getting beaten to death than negative things. Just makes the sub feel less miserable
Different kind of games, in different kind of ages. Back then you could be a lot more physical, a slower game, and those historic Bulls teams had box scores similar to that of the Orlando Magic playoff box scores of today
All I’m hearing is that Paolo belongs in GOAT debates
Lakers lead league in FT differential in the last 4⁄5 years
“Just a weird coincidence”
Shai leads league in FTs
“Refs are conspiring for him”
Not one person is saying that’s a coincidence lmao
Respect pushing the anti Lakers agenda tho
The Lakers are a bad organization infested with incompetent sycophants. If you take all those exact same people and place them in another city they win 20 games a seasons max, because no mega-stars will come play for them and bail them out.
Location, location, location…..
this is why the knicks have been so successful the last 20+ years since NYC is one of the most desirable markets right?
LA is for sure more desirable than NY for the average NBA player. NY is slightly more glamorous and cosmopolitan than LA at the cost of much worse weather. It is not even mildly a competition unless the player styles themselves as a business elite above all else.
Well if you take the Knicks ownership and put them in a small city then they’d get no wins ever and turn it into a surveillance state.
this is the level of hate i love to see
carry on my dude
Hot take coming from a team in NY who still can’t put together a team worth a shit and havent won a title since the Vietnam War
Ok what about when people say both the Lakers the last few years and SGA get an extremely good whistle?
They both do, it’s just funny that this is most likely a Lakers fan complaining about ot
Also the SGA discourse is way more extreme individually
You see lots of people claiming he wouldn’t be a superstar without his whistle while you never really see anyone go that far with Luka who plays the ref game to a pretty similar level
I’ve genuinely seen people claim there are asterisks on his awards because he’s a flopper
I see way more of the same sorta sentiment about SGA that we heard about prime Harden, that he’s obviously an absurdly good player regardless so the flopping etc is especially frustrating. Not that he wouldn’t be shit without it
Luka complains and whines about every call ever, but I wouldn’t really say he’s a major flopper. But he’s also got a way floppier dude on his team in Reaves to take some of that attention away
Luka is 100% a flopper, and has been since he came into the league.
He’s a major flopper as is Reaves
And as is Smart … Smart is like on the shortlist of biggest flopper in NBA history and people just seemingly care way less for this trifecta than OKC
Smart is an all time flopper, I would never deny that. I vividly remember the double Smart flops against Harden to seal that one Celtics vs Rockets game years back
No one says it’s a coincidence.
Reaves is just as good of a flopper but thank god he’s not as talented as Shai
Yup, Reaves is actually ahead of Shai in FT rate
They both suck lol I don’t discriminate Lakers and Shai are both basketball terrorists
Both Shai and the Lakers get favorable whistles. I dont know anyone who disputes that (besides some Thunder and Lakers fans, I guess)
Please show me someone without a lakers flair say “just a weird coincidence” I’m begging
Both are true. Lakers get a favorable whistle in general. SGA also is prime harden with his flopping antics
iirc lots of people were calling out the lakers and the refs for that.
Insane take.
Nobody ever says it’s a coincidence but laker fans. You guys are delusional
Aren’t cumulative stats impacted by games played? Are we trying to say Luka wasn’t the FTA leader this year?
Also what kind of stat includes playoffs? Even more games played by the literal champion
Anyone who upvoted this post is exactly the problem with NBA discourse today. Just cherrypicking stats for ragebait without even ten seconds of thinking about the context.
That’s how I feel about every post on Reddit tbh. Misrepresented ragebait everywhere with thousands of upvotes.
People say SGA and the Thunder are ruining the “game they love”.
More like the brainless and baseless comments and drama they’ve stirred up online are ruining the game they don’t actually watch.
someone else did the math luckily and the per 36 for regular season has SGA only .5 FTAs above Luka over the past two years lol both of them get a bunch so instead of highlighting both, i guess they just wanted to trash on SGA
It’s almost as if there’s an agenda
You’re at risk of getting doxxed and swatted with that kind of talk in this sub
From the thread above you:
That comment is wrong. SGA is averaging 9.8 FTA/36, Luka is averaging 10.14 FTA/36.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=highest+free+throw+attempts+per+36+minutes+in+25-26
Yeah honestly I’m kind of happy people are getting this goofy and stupid with obviously misleading stats. It does seem to be waking up at least a few people when you try to get too silly with it. The free throw leaders each season get posted here pretty frequently, aaaand SGA is never number 1. Lol so sure, let’s just pick the metric where he shot the most because he…..played more playoff games and was less injured than the other people on the list.
We’ve hit Fox News level crazy misleading propaganda – let’s see who notices and who doesn’t!
Luke kennard took more freethrows than sga last night
Lakers PR is legit insane lol I’ve never seen this much outrage after a player DIDN’T get the calls lmao
All the comments on the post about SGA’s foul bait not being called and him turning it over are about how the refs rig it for OKC you’d never guess that he didn’t get the whistle
Somehow the main narrative after a game where the Lakers scored 90 points and there weren’t really any dubious calls on either end has become about OKC being free throw merchants
Marcus Smart averages more free throws per game in the Playoffs than anyone in the Thunder other than Shai. If the majority of this sub could read they would be very surprised seeing the free throws numbers for the Thunder as a team.
And Marcus Smart is a HISTORIC flopper
I can’t believe a team that…
1.) has Marcus Smart
2.) has Luka who led the league in FTA and has the record for most FTA by a PG in a season (all while having CAREER LOW RIM FREQUENCY
3.) dominates the FTA disparity *by a wide wide margin*
4.) also has Austin Reaves
gets less criticism and rigged accusations than OKC. Absurd.
Lakers fans outnumber thunder fans nearly 20-1 and have insane levels of bandwagoning from the media. Any narrative that makes them look bad is going to be quashed while any that makes us look bad will be amplified.
Bingo, you basically have to just roll with the punches. If you try to argue back you’re going to be called delusional or “cope”. They control the narrative.
*Lebron
lakers fans complaining about fts is the most ironic shit maybe ever
Welcome to r/NBA lmao, where teams can’t stomach the idea that the Thunder are just better.
Reddit as a whole hates Oklahoma
laker player, which r/lakers2 aka r/nba has decided are allowed to flop
i hope they enjoy our 3peat
SGA has played in 28 playoff games during this period. We’re penalizing him for that? This sub is so corny.
If I’m not crazy he’s never led the league in FT’s, so this doesnt mean much
2025 - Luka
2024 - Giannis
2023 - Giannis
2022 - Giannis
2021 - Embiid
2020 - Giannis
Shai in total FTA and FTA/G
2025 - 2nd, 4th
2024 - 2nd, 3rd
2023 - 2nd, 4th
2022 - 3rd, 3rd
Dudes will bring up FTM because he’s a more efficient FT shooter than all of those guys to make him seem like he does tho lol
A few days ago someone noted that people only complain about free throws when you’re good at them and your team is good.
I’ve actually heard no one complain about Giannis when he goes 11⁄19 on free throws
Except when he was taking 10 minutes per FTA
The team being good is really the main thing lol. Shai averaged the most FT/G in his career when we were a 10 seed and people loved him back then
Wolves shot 130 ish more free throw attempts than the thunder this year. They only made 1 total free throw more than the thunder.
Maybe teams should shift to making their fucking free throws.
Also he’s taken 350 more FGA and scored 1000 more points than anyone else in that time.
This discourse is exhausting. Disingenuous stats considering he’s played way more games.
This post is exactly why I wanted the Rockets to beat LA last round, now Lakers fans are going to FLOOD this sub with post like this every game regardless of how many FTs SGA actually takes.
You want the Lakers to lose so you don’t have to deal with their propaganda and agendas on r/nba.
I want the Lakers to lose because I hate them.
We are not the same.
It’s such a large % of the posts and the thunder are gonna keep winning for a while so get used to this.
Yup. It’s best to just ignore it at this point.
He’s scored 1000 more points and taken 350 more FGA than anyone else in the past two seasons.
And also 600 less 3PA than Edwards who’s the 2nd in FGA in that time.
largely because luka missed 32 games last season and got gentlemen’s swept in the playoffs last year.
luka played fewer regular season games than SGA this season and shot more free throws
I’m tired of yall
I swear this sub doesn’t even like basketball, they just want something to argue about. This sub is much more active during the day than during actual game times lol
I agree with you, but it not being active during game time makes sense if people are watching the games lol
once you start shitposting back at these people it becomes more fun
why would I actually talk about basketball here, lol
So people should be not watching the game and posting on Reddit instead???
Dont worry…just a few more games left for them this year
I’m tired of flopping
In the early 2010s this was arguably the best subreddit too lol.
Yea how dare he play in so many games, especially in the postseason.
it’s hilarious that he only got 3 free throw attempts last game
The frothing at the mouth has been premature. Hope he gets 30/1/1 with 20 FT’s next game shooting 5⁄20 so i can see this sub burn.
Next game he’ll have 20 attempts. This is what refs do unfortunately. 2019 Celtics vs Bucks series, they let Horford guard Giannis very physically. Next game he would get a whistle any time Horford touched him.
Great point. If we add 20 attempts to the amount of projected hypothetical FTs Shai gets every game to adjust his averages to my perception of his playstyle, he’ll lead the league in FTA/game
Shai is 15th in FTr this year (FTA/FGA).
Jimmy Butler is the best at drawing fouls/grifting. Shai is behind Deni Avdija, Austin Reaves and Joel Embiid.
Luka takes the most FTs and the most shots.
For the 25-26 regular season, here were the top 5 players’ FTAs adjusted per game:
Luka 10.08
Avdija 9.24
Shai 9.03
Banchero 8.19
Brown 7.55
The player that has led the league in drives per game the last two years also leads the league in free throws and fouls drawn? Who would’ve guessed
Not just that but he is the go to for technical free throws and the person most likely with the ball in his hands for end of game intentional fouls. Hard to prop up the narrative when he had a game just last series where the majority of his free throws came from those exact scenarios.
actually this subreddit seems great at propping up the narrative regardless
This includes playoffs too. Using a totals stat with playoffs is just pure agenda driving
Also leads the league in made field goals by a similarly large margin during that same time frame
OP not realizing this is actually a testament to how good Shai is because it’s including playoff games, which he plays more than other players cause he wins 😂
i hate SGA but lets use statistics properly, this is cumulative not per 36
Did FS1 have like a coordinated plan to make this the topic regardless of how OKC won game one? He shot four free throws but pretty much the only “analysis” first things first or Cowherd had about the game was that shai is a free throw merchant.
Chet had one of his best games of the season. Ajay mitchell is showing his value. Lebron looked like the best player on the floor in a game vs one of the youngest and deepest teams the league has.
Why was this the story? They couldn’t have at least waited for when shai actually shot a bunch of free throw?
Is this the losers meeting?
Just posting raw totals from Cowherd of all people might be a new low for this discourse.
By this logic SGA won the scoring title because he now has more total points than Luka counting the playoffs
Yeah the NPC behavior on this sub is mind-boggling. I think I’m good on this lol
Perfect stat to make sga look bad without context lmao the hate is insane
He is a very good driver & he is VERY good at playing through contact.
This is nowhere near egregious as people make it out to be & even though he does look to draw contact he unlike a lot of others actively looks to score.
Hidden profile. OP is a coward.
What an insanely flawed graphic that is missing a lot of key points.
Did he play more games than the #2 player? Does this also include playoff games?
Consider he has never lead those seasons in free throw attempts per game, this is just stats to manipulate the narrative.
You guys keep talking about what’s wrong with the game today, and I truly believe social media and the death of actual sports analysts in media is the biggest thing.
You guys are looking for short term engagement that is very reactionary and emotional versus actually breaking down the game yesterday.
Not even denying that there was flopping, but considering the main one people are complaining about you can clearly see that Ayton trips him, and it didn’t even result in a call, is very telling about the power that narratives have over the game.
You legitimately have people defending peak Harden to diminish SGA.
He also leads the league in drives for the past 6 years.
Despite that, he’s not even top 20 in fouls per drive.
This year he averaged 18.8 drives per game and 3.7FTA from drives.
Ant who’s considered to have a ‘bad’ whistle drives 11.1 times a game and 3.3FTA from drives.
People literally don’t understand volume.
Oh man, total stats instead of per game or especially per 48 are such weapons to the narrative
Cool he is also b2b MVP!
SGA has also led the league in drives the past 4-5 years..
This is so misleading because cumulative stats always lean away from guys who dont get injured/ don’t get further in the playoffs. Giannis has a much higher free throw rate and averages more free throws a game over that same stretch. They obviously play differently but if anyone gets to the line the most in the league it’s probably been him over the last few years.
Like his per game numbers aren’t even weird for a midrange scorer. Dirk averaged 8.8 FTA a game from 2001-2012 in 128 playoff games, with a .48 Free throw rate. Shai has been at 9.2 FTA a game since 2024 in the playoffs, with a lower Ftr (.426) over 38 games. Have people gone insane?
Best scorer in the league who shoots at a high percentage at every level who is also incredibly available shoots the most FTs, that is definitely surprising!
More of a usage and minutes thing. Also this includes playoffs so no shit he would, they played an extra 23 games. I just dont get the extra shai hate when we’ve seen prime Embiid, harden and jimmy butler be way worse.
Tbf the only guys that could compete with him in this stat are Luka and giannis and both missed way too many games over the last 2 seasons.
I’m not gonna sit here and act like Shai doesn’t flop at times but ppl need to stop acting like 9 fta per game is something we’ve never seen before
This this new fave of the NBA? Weeeak bruh
Lol maybe yall should stop fouling him then
The bitching about his free throws is way more annoying than the number of free throws he makes.
Well he went to the finals last season and played in 2 7 games series. Show regular season to be more complete.
maybe they shouldn’t foul him
just repeating heat fans of course
3rd and 2nd in FTA/game those two years though
The way how people talk about sga and “fta” you would be thinking he was averaging like 12-15 fts or some shit meanwhile he’s averaging 8-9 and has only averaged 10+ once all while leading the league in drives for the past 4 years. Dude isn’t even 10 top for fga/fta, guys like Austin Reaves and Jimmy Butler are bigger free throw merchants than him. It’s hilarious
He also leads the league in MVPs and rings
You must be new. There are several active players that have him beat. But I guess its more fun to just make things up
I was just curious, Harden’s two year peak of free throw attempts (16-17) was 1718
I’m someone that doesn’t like Shai when he’s flopping and gets frustrated by it because he’s too good to be doing that shit consistently but…. Come on man from a Lakers fan this shit is ridiculous.
Yall led the league in free throw differential for over half a decade with various different rosters, identities, and coaches. When that happens its just a random coincidence according to yall, nothing even mildly sus about it. But when its SGA suddenly there’s an issue. Maybe he just plays the way you guys do.
You can be a SGA hate watcher and not post on reddit. Yall know that right lol
Isn’t Luka up there, except injuries taking him out? What’s the average. I could just go look it up though
Ethical hoops.
I mean he flips consistent and “plays tough defense” super easy to hate the guy lol.
Watching a dude hack your star player on defense and then turn around and get.soft calls when had the ball is beyond infuriating
While their entire strategy on defense is to do dangerous, illegal bullshit and get away with it.
Oh no 🙀
God you guys are pathetic
This sub is so cooked man…
Best player in the league no matter how mad you get about it.
Now go FTA per game. He is way healthier that all the other top FTA guys. That’s why his total is way higher.
Nah you people are hilarious, it’s so easy to show why this stat means nothing and yet 1000+ upvotes lol What a Meltdownnn
Have you tried telling teacher about his ftas? Maybe they can do something about it
Bring out all the graphics Lakers fans, we know you ain’t got Lakers highlights to post this series
I’m so sick of hearing about SGA’s free throws. It’s not interesting basketball discourse and just sounds whiny. That’s it, no further comment.
People probably don’t want to hear this but there was alot of hand wringing over the same thing with Kobe in the 06-11 era or James Harden with the rockets. It’s a symptom of the era we’re in and some people are better at taking advantage of it than others