The Lakers are hosting the Cavaliers tonight at home in a matchup where they go up against James Harden, who is probably the highest foul generator of all time.
And this is just days before they face Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder, a player who has drawn the most criticism this season for drawing fouls, on Thursday night.
In the pregame press conference, JJ Redick was asked about his opinion on foul merchants ahead of the Lakers facing these two players within a span of days.
“I think drawing fouls is a skill. It’s a skill. In the history of the NBA, most elite scorers have gotten to the line. MJ shot 10+ free throws, Kobe shot 10+ free throws. That’s how elite scorers can generate more than 22-24 points.”
“It’s the difference maker for every 30-point scorer in the history of the NBA. Just happens to have montage videos on Twitter now, that’s all,” Redick hilariously concluded.
Some people might think that his opinions are based on the fact that the Lakers are leading the league by averaging 27 attempts from the free-throw line.
But Redick has felt this way ever since the discourse began back when Joel Embiid was in the MVP discussion, and he wasn’t even the Lakers’ head coach in 2023.
It is one thing to draw fouls due to being mobbed by the defense, but another thing altogether to throw your body in unnatural positions just to draw contact with the defender.
The credit for the Lakers leading the league in free-throw attempts goes mainly to Luka Doncic, who leads the league as well, as he singlehandedly averages 10.1 free-throw attempts per game this season.
Doncic might have faced a lot of scrutiny due to constantly complaining to the officials, but one cannot say that he gets his foul calls after flopping.
He often gets swarmed by defenders and doesn’t get calls in his favor. You don’t lead the league in scoring and not have it show up on the opposing team’s scouting report. But also, his constant complaining might be getting him some arguably soft calls.
The NBA has implemented several rule changes to pluck out the flopping and the dramatic element from the game, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (9.4) and James Harden (7.7) still manage to generate a significant portion of their total offensive contributions from the free-throw line.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is currently averaging 31.6 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 55.3% from the field. Meanwhile, James Harden is averaging 23.8 points, 8.2 assists, and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 43.4% from the field.
Almost one-third of both their total points come from the free-throw line every game. And Redick was right, Michael Jordan had two seasons where he averaged over 10 free-throw attempts per game (1987-88), and three seasons where Kobe Bryant did that (2004-06).
So, is this really a problem? Or like what Redick said, it’s only being escalated now due to social media? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
