The game of basketball offers a unique scoring opportunity that simply can’t be
found anywhere else in sports: the free throw.
This motion doesn’t cloak its true meaning in verbose vernacular. In fact, it’s
exactly what it claims to be: An uncontested throw of the ball at the hoop in
hopes of adding another point, two or even three to your final total. No
defender trying to block or even affect the shot, other players reduced to fans
watching the action unfold in front of them. It’s a play that’s become so
commonplace in the game today that we often overlook its simplicity.
Delving into WNBA team free throw percentage from the past five seasons, a
veiled but intriguing theme of consistency comes to fruition. From 2013-16 the
Chicago Sky never dropped out of the top four, and this season the Mystics are
the second team shooting 85% or better (Fever, 2017) since the 2011 Phoenix
Mercury.
The thread clearly isn’t a homecourt advantage but rather a prolific individual
shooter: Elena Delle Donne.
You know about the MVP awards, the scoring champion accolades, the Rookie of the
Year trophy and the Olympic gold medal, but EDD also holds the profound honor of
being the league’s all-time leader in the free throw percentage (94.3%).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTzhJZ0UrnQ
Delle Donne has made the charity stripe her second home. While her exceptional
arsenal of offensive weapons make her lethal off the dribble or in a
catch-and-shoot opportunity, her ability to draw fouls and then convert from the
line is what sets her in a class all by herself when it comes to stuffing the
stat sheet.
On Tuesday afternoon, Delle Donne tied DeWanna Bonner’s record for consecutive
made free throws in a single season at 59. Eva Nemcova still holds the all-time
record after sinking 66 straight between the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
.@De11eDonne's consecutive free throws made streak ends at 59, tying DeWanna Bonner's record for longest in a single season. #WatchMeWork pic.twitter.com/Jer6bHTA2X
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 25, 2017
She missed the historic shot and fell short in chasing more history, but still,
this ground-breaking level of consistency was nothing new for the four-time
All-Star.
In 2015, Delle Donne made 58 straight free throws as a member of the Chicago
Sky, which at the time set the all-time single-season record before Bonner set
the new record just five weeks later. In the same season she also set a new WNBA
in-game record by knocking down 19 of 19 free throws against the Dream in late
June en route to a career-high 45-point outburst. All in all she’s made an
astounding 686 of the 728 total free throw shots she’s attempted in her WNBA
career thus far.
2017 has been particularly special for the free throw phenom as her 96.4 percent
shooting from the line is the best clip of her career. EDD has only missed four
free throws this entire season, she’s taken 112. Always mentioned in the scoring
champion discussion, Delle Donne’s 19.3 points per game are the 7th most in the
WNBA and of her 366 points this season 108 have come in the form of free throws.
Many are hesitant to say that someone is “automatic” or a “guarantee” when it
comes to scoring the basketball. But, if Elena Delle Donne is on the line with
two free throws coming her way, it’s safe to assume she’ll have two more points
next to her name as her team runs the other way to get into their defensive set.
