The gap between him and the second place is enormous. What does Embiid do differently that others couldn’t consistently replicate, even in today’s era? Yes, per 36 is not the right tool to compare different players and across different eras, and he is still playing in his prime, so his free throw attempts are expected to drop like other greats. But even in Shaq’s prime, he was averaging less; shaq averaged 10.4 during his Lakers days with Hack-a-Shaq where players were trying to foul him.
[https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/what-is-the-record-for-most-free-throw-attempts-per-36-minutes-for-career](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/what-is-the-record-for-most-free-throw-attempts-per-36-minutes-for-career)
by kerobob
35 Comments
That’s pretty darn crazy
I noticed from the Magic game that he sometimes just gets calls for no reason. Like man doesnt even have to try and flop these days to get a call. He falls down and they give it to him. Makes no god dam sense tbh.
Some of it is the high pace nowadays. Although I’m surprised someone like Moses Malone who played in the 80s isn’t up there too
Wym? He’s just falling, that’s not on him/s
Pretty crazy but when you think about it Shaq wasn’t playing to get fouled like Embiid is. It’s why he looks a bit lost in the playoffs when the whistles dry up.
2nd round exit baby. game is built off being at the line and people not being able to be near him because it’s a
*whistle*
foul
Giannis and Embiid both are great players, but the way the NBA refs them is ridonkulous. Giannis travels all over the place, commits offensive fouls. Embiid commits offensive fouls, falls to the floor and gets calls. If he wants to fall to the floor to protect his body, the NBA knows this, it should be a non-call.
Like, seriously, more FTAs than Hack-a-Shaq? This is regular season, and Hack-a-Shaq was more a post-season strategy, but still. Then you see replays like the call from last night and wonder, who does the NBA think wants to watch that. A guy fall on the ground with what looks like no contact and then take 2 free throws. Just don’t call anything when he does that.
edit: and Jokic gets away with some flopping. But I think flopping is more a universal NBA problem, not Jokic-specific. Us old heads do hate us some flopping. Where ‘falling on the ground and getting free throws’ is Embiid-specific, and ‘not being completely fundamentally sound, so plays somewhat out-of-control’ is Giannis-specific.
Man he got some soft calls against the Magic last night. I don’t even thinking he was trying to flop, I think the refs are just to bad.
i am surprised it would not be much more.
Based on just last nights game.
The refs basically beg him go to the line.
Trip himself? FT
sneeze? FT
Light is too bright? FT
He’s become one of the best mid-range shooters in history, but he’s also literally unguardable from that spot because of his whistle. Guys are terrified to close space or contest his shot because of how “good” he is at tricking the refs into foul calls. The foundation of his game is being able to draw fouls and forcing guys to give him space and not contest his shot.
No one else is really officiated like him- the combination of great whistle and mastering the dark arts of drawing fouls. KD is a decent comp because they are operating out of the same areas a lot, and you see guys are right into KD’s jersey without as much fear of being called for fouls.
It’s also jarring how much contact is allowed around the basket for big men as opposed to on the perimeter. Part of the reason why putting a small on bigs works sometimes is the smaller player is granted carte blanche to foul the shit out of the big and then fall over to draw a charge.
I think the frustrating part is he gets genuinely fouled the most because he’s huge and then he’s also top 3 in foul baiting and flopping, it’s almost not fair at least in the regular season
Adam’s salivating on the amount of ads he could fit on those FT.
And there ain’t no “Hack a Joel” to raise those numbers like with Shaq.
I’m saying this both as a fan of the NBA, but also as a fan of a not very good team that rivals the Sixers, but, my God, I can not stand watching Embiid play.
Free throws are just not it.
When this stops in the post season, the sixers are going to be so confused as to why they suck.
NBA going to destroy itself letting this go on
Embiid is so unstoppable they’d rather give a guy shooting 54% from the field 2 free throws at 88%. The math does not math and Sixers fans are coping hard.
Shaq made sense because teams would hack him.
Embiid just flops.
This should always be brought up when talking about his monsterous stats. I don’t even care.
Same goes for “prime Harden” lmao go and look at how many of his points came from free throws. A large number of which were due to flopping. Complete joke.
It’s not just about how many added points come from free throws either, it’s also about the more immeasurable aspect of flopping which is how it completely changes the way people go about guarding them, leading to even easier buckets.
Delete this. Sixers fan will say this is hatred.
He’s incredibly hard to stop when going to the paint, yet he’s also a good shooter. Is this really so hard to understand for people? It makes full sense for him to average a ton of free throws
NBA trying to make/sustain a superstar again….
Offensive players with poor body control as they fly into the lane shouldn’t be rewarded. Defensive players who leave their feet should be whistled more closely than ones who don’t….these should be the philosophical foundation of how fouls are called or not called.
does the F in fta stand for flop?
Dude is more unethical than Madoff.
Manufactured superstar
He flops so much! Dunno why he hasn’t gotten a fine yet.
Quick reminder for everyone in this comment section. Yes embiid is shooting a lot of free throws but that‘s not actually a statistical anomaly. Historically players averaging 35+ PPG in a season have never shot less than 10.2 free throws per game (Kobe setting that lower boundary). Historically players averaging 35+ PPG actually average 12.7 FTA per game, making Embiid‘s 11.9 actually below average. The only people to shoot less FT‘s per game on the same point averages are Rick Barry, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant
This is the biggest reason for me to put Jokic above him. Like 11 points from free throws per game is ridiculous. And it’s not like it’s just foul baiting (the way Harden did), he gets soooooo many calls for absolutely no reason.
Too good to be as big a foul merchant as he is
It’s really lame when you see these bigger players fall so easy but they’re also suppose to be the biggest and dominating players on the court at their position.
Look. Shaq played against defense that was immensly harder than what it is today. Good on Embiid, he’s at the top of his league rn as a centre but damn, its not a fair comparison at all.
majority of this sub believes free throws should be 50/50 so dont waste your time sixer bro’s
Yeah, should mention that the difference between 1st and 2nd is that one was fouled on purpose while the other is not.
It’s insane to think that despite that he still gets so much more
Welp— Embiid dropped 41 & outdueled Jokic a few days ago, got a modicum of praise from r/nba, but I guess we’re back to regularly scheduled programming now💀
Keep copy & pasting those verbatim comments from the last Embiid flop thread and soak up that karma👍