Most people remember the NBA for a superstar player’s glory, jaw-dropping stats, and excitement that he brings to the game. Especially in today’s game, it seems a record is broken every other night. And while some records are truly impressive and showcase a player’s glory, others are not as impressive.
- Most missed free-throws in a game: Andre Drummond (2015-2016) – 23 FT missed
- Most field goals missed in a game: Joe Fulks (1947-1948) – 41 FG missed
- Most missed three-pointers in a game: James Harden (2017-2018, 2018-2019) and Damon Stoudemire (2004-2005) – 16 missed three-pointers
- Most turnovers in a game: Jason Kidd (2000-2001) – 14 turnovers
- Most technicals in a single season: Rasheed Wallace (2000-2001) – 41 technicals
- Most technical fouls in a career: Karl Malone – 332 technicals
- Worst FT% shooter in NBA history: Ben Wallace – 41.4% FT
- Worst FG% shooter in NBA history: John Mahnken – 27.2% FG
- Worst three-point shooter in NBA history (min. 2000 attempts): Charles Barkley – 26.6%
- Most minutes played without scoring a point: Joel Anthony (2010-2011) – 28 minutes, 46 seconds
Throughout NBA history, the league is full of embarrassing and dishonorable records, and here are the worst records set by individual players.
Most missed free-throws in a game: Andre Drummond (2015-2016) – 23 FT missed
Just a few years ago, Andre Drummond managed to miss an astounding 23 free throws in a single game. While everyone doesn’t expect Drummond to be a decent free throw shooter, as he has struggled throughout his career shooting 50% from the line, missing 23 is inexcusable.
Drummond simply has no rhythm that game, missing 23 times from the line but surprisingly still being a part of the Detroit Pistons win over the Houston Rockets. The Hack-A-Drummond did not work for the Rockets, but it certainly worked for the record books.
Most field goals missed in a game: Joe Fulks (1947-1948) – 41 FG missed
Fulks historically missed a whopping 41 shots out of a total of 55 attempts, something that we will probably never see again. This seemed common back in those days, and Fulks is actually in the Hall of Fame thanks to his first three seasons of his career in which he averaged 23.2, 22.1, and 26.0 PPG respectively. Still, missing 41 shots in a single game is quite astonishing especially if he only took 55.
Fulks may be a Hall of Famer, but this record will not be broken anytime soon and if it does – that player will probably not have a job the following season.
Most missed three-pointers in a game: James Harden (2017-2018, 2018-2019) and Damon Stoudemire (2004-2005) – 16 missed three-pointers
Anybody following the NBA nowadays knows that this isn’t a very shocking statistic for James Harden. The Rockets are making an initiative to take a three every single time down the floor and hoist up as many threes as possible in a single game. Harden lives and dies by the three very often, so it is no surprise why he managed to miss a whopping 16 threes in a single game in two consecutive seasons.
For Damon Stoudemire, this doesn’t look as good because he was a miniature guard who didn’t have Harden’s impact offensively. Missing 16 threes surely raises his coaches’ eyebrows and everyone else’s around him.
Most turnovers in a game: Jason Kidd (2000-2001) – 14 turnovers
Jason Kidd is one of the best pure playmakers in NBA history, so it’s doubtful that he feels bothered by this stat.
For someone who handles the ball as often as he did, it is expected to commit a lot of turnovers. He had 14 turnovers against the Knicks on November 17, 2000, while playing for the Suns.
We have seen many ball-dominant players cough up the rock on countless occasions, but not one player has managed to beat Jason Kidd’s turnover record.
Most technicals in a single season: Rasheed Wallace (2000-2001) – 41 technicals
In possibly the most astonishing way, Wallace managed to get 41 technical fouls and essentially averaging one technical every two games. This is something that will probably never happen again since Rasheed was just on a tear that season in terms of his bad behavior towards referees.
Rasheed simply could not control himself, and it cost him and his team money and possessions respectively. Wallace is one of the most popular players ever, but this record is quite embarrassing.
Most technical fouls in a career: Karl Malone – 332 technicals
While Rasheed holds the record for most technicals in a single season, Karl Malone holds the record for most technicals over a career. He managed to earn a whopping 332 technicals over his career, something that might not be surprising considering The Mailman’s reputation as a very competitive athlete.
Still, Malone managed to beat out famous talker Charles Barkley (who had 329 for his career) for this rather unprestigious award, but Malone will probably have this record for the rest of history because most players don’t talk as much as Malone did.
Worst FT% shooter in NBA history: Ben Wallace – 41.4% FT
Ben Wallace was known for one thing: defense. In fact, his offensive game was practically zero. He couldn’t shoot anywhere on the floor and was known to miss layups on occasions as well. How someone could be so poor on offense yet so dominant is truly amazing, but Wallace has the case for being the greatest rim defender of all time and is a ballot Hall of Famer.
But his free throw shooting was horrific. Even worse than Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain, who both hardly ever made two free throws in a row. Wallace could not be counted on to make a single free throw, as shooting under 50% is just embarrassing.
Worst FG% shooter in NBA history: John Mahnken – 27.2% FG
I doubt there will ever be a worst % shooter from the field than John Mahnken. Under 30% is something that is extremely embarrassing, but that is what this player will be remembered for. A 6’8″ center who averaged 5.8 PPG for his career, Mahnken is clearly one of the most easily forgotten played to ever play.
Unfortunately for him, his 27.2% FG shooting is something a center cannot possibly accomplish in today’s NBA.
Worst three-point shooter in NBA history (min. 2000 attempts): Charles Barkley – 26.6%
Of course, we have seen players who shoot less than 10% from three but that is because they only took a handful over a season. But with a minimum of 2000 attempts, a plentiful amount, Charles Barkley is the worst three-point shooter in NBA history.
He was very limited in his range and only had a mid-range game to his name. Barkley wanted to dominate the post, and that’s what he did on a very consistent basis. Charles was saying beast inside and one of the best power forwards to ever play, but he will not like being the worst three-point shooter in NBA history.
Most minutes played without scoring a point: Joel Anthony (2010-2011) – 28 minutes, 46 seconds
The 2010-2011 Miami Heat had a ton of offense with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh taking all the shots. For Joel Anthony, he did not need to do anything except being tall and rebound the ball. Scoring was the last thing on his priority list, and he made it painfully clear when he didn’t register a single point in over 28 minutes of action.
Anthony literally had no chances to score and was just there to bolster the paint so James, Wade, and Bosh did their thing on offense. Nearly 30 minutes without a point is truly astonishing but it happened for Joel Anthony.
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