NBA History: 5 Worst free throw shooters of all time

Free throws form a major part of the NBA. Over the years, players with great free throw percentage have taken advantage of the rules and racked up points from the charity stripe.

But there have also been some poor free throw shooters and the opposition teams have fully utilized their deficiencies from the free-throw line. Late game hacking has become a part of the game and opponents keep on fouling the weakest free throw shooters to stop the shot clock and gain advantage.

Sometimes even the best players are forced to sit out in crunch period because of free-throw hacking. Let's have a look at the five worst free-throw shooters of all time:

Honorable mentions:

Shaquille O'Neal - 'Hack the Shaq' became a very famous quote in the NBA because the only way to stop Shaq was to hack him and send him to the free-throw line. Shaq remains the most dominant force in the NBA but his free throw shooting percentage was only 52.7%.

Dwight Howard - Dwight Howard's poor free-throw shooting also became very popular because he was constantly getting hacked by the opposition teams to stop the shot clock.

#5 Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain was the most gifted NBA player of his time. His dominance led to several rule changes in the NBA. He is the only one to average 50 points and 25 rebounds per game for an entire season.

His single-game total of 100 points remains an NBA record. Wilt is also the only rookie in NBA history to win the MVP award.

But despite his dominance, Chamberlain was disappointing from the Free throw line. He had a career FT shooting percentage of 51.1%. He is one of the five worst free-throw shooters in NBA history.

#4 Chris Dudley

Chris Dudley played in 886 games spanning across 17 seasons in the NBA and averaged 3.9 points and 6 rebounds per game. He started of his career playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He retired after the 2002-03 season with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Dudley was a 6'11" big man and played at the center and the power forward positions. But he was a very poor free throw shooter. On a total of 1508 attempts from the free throw line, Dudley made only 45.8% of his free throws.

Dudley was mostly a back up role player in the NBA and played for a total of five NBA teams.

#3 DeAndre Jordan

DeAndre Jordan is an athletic center who made his name in the NBA because of his defensive leadership and freakish dunks. Jordan who recently signed for the Brooklyn Nets has played in 826 NBA games and averages 9.5 points and 10.8 rebounds.

DeAndre has been a very poor free throw shooter which has spoilt his playing time in the crunch moments. Out of a total of 3324 free throw attempts, Jordan has made only 46.6% of the same.

DeAndre started his career with the Los Angeles Clippers and played 10 seasons there. This team was famously nicknamed as the Lob City.

#2 Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond is a terrific rebounder. He is almost always present in the top five in rebounds per game.

But there is one aspect of the game in which Drummond has always struggled and that is Free throw shooting. Teams have always targeted him and have exploited his free throw shooting woes.

He has shot less than 40% from the free throw line in four seasons. Out of a total of 2645 free throw attempts in his career, Drummond has made only 45.2% of those. He is still young and needs to figure out his shooting to find a place in the NBA.

#1 Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace is a 6'9" giant who played at the Center and power forward positions. He was one of the best defensive players in the NBA and received four Defensive player of the year awards.

Wallace played in 1088 games in the NBA. He was also a blocks leader on one occasion. He won the 2003-04 NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons. But he remains one of the worst free throw shooters in the NBA. On a total of 2679 attempts, Wallace made only 41.4% of his free throws.

He retired after the 2011-12 season with the Detroit Pistons.