Despite winning 4x NBA championships in his Hall of Fame career, Shaquille O’Neal has not managed to evade being called one of the worst free throw shooters ever. Moreover, the Los Angeles Lakers legend has also been mocked by his own kin regarding his deficiency from the foul line. Though now he can’t do much about it after his retirement, the Big Diesel once took it upon himself to make some serious strides with his free throw shooting which ultimately led to All-time success.

Shaquille O’Neal and the Lakers won 3x NBA championships in a row at the dawn of the millennium. Needless to say, the 3x Finals MVP played a huge role in the success. However, did you know that O’Neal had a shooting coach to improve his free throws during those years?

Shaquille O’Neal’s free-throw wonders with the 2000s Lakers involved a ‘surgeon’

Known mostly for his dominant plays in the paint, the 7’1” O’Neal seldom shot the ball. However, as the league caught on it, some teams started implementing the “Hack a Shaq” strategy to limit O’Neal’s dominance in the paint. Consequently, the Big Fella’s free-throw shooting took a nose dive due to the surge in volume. Leading up to the 2000-01 NBA season, the Hall of Famer had lots of free throw attempts almost every game. However, he missed over 300 free throws every season due to his poor shooting percentage.

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To make strides in O’Neal’s free throw shooting, the Lakers appointed Ed Palubinskas, a.k.a; the “Shooting surgeon” for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. The shooting coach, who has a basketball academy and is a former player himself, produced impressive results. The Big Diesel improved his numbers all across the board. Especially in the playoffs, he improved his FT% to 64.9% on over ten attempts per game. Similarly, in the following season, he averaged 62.1% on 11 attempts per game. 

Needless to say, O’Neal’s strides undoubtedly proved instrumental as the Lakers won 3x titles in a row. Incidentally, Palubinskas also received championship rings for his contributions. 

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Though O’Neal did wonders those seasons, he reverted to his shooting woes and retired as a poor free-throw shooter, having missed 5317 in his career. Many fans mock him to be the worst free-throw shooter ever. Surprisingly, even his sons seem to second that notion.

Shaquille O’Neal once got mocked by his sons

Like their father, the Big Fella’s sons, Shareef and Shaqir, are basketball players. However, during a game three years ago, after missing a couple of free throws, they drew comparisons to their father, O’Neal. Incidentally, Shareef O’Neal took to his Instagram and posted about the incident, seemingly roasting his own father. Moreover, the post, which went viral, also received reactions from the likes of LeBron James, Drake, and O’Neal himself. 

In the comments, O’Neal wrote in his defense, “And you tell em you daddy the best to ever do it, but then again you ain’t got to say nothing as THEY ALREADY KNOW.”

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Who do you think is the worst free-throw shooter of all time? Let us know in the comments below.