How is free throw percentage calculated?

Divide made free throws by attempted free throws. A player who makes 68 of 80 shoots 85 percent from the line.

Why does free throw percentage matter?

It converts drawn fouls into points and often predicts a player's outside touch. In close games, reliable free-throw shooters are the ones you want holding the ball late.

What Is Free Throw Percentage in Basketball?

What Free Throw measures

Free throws are the same shot every time, from the same spot, with no defender. That makes free throw percentage the purest read on a player's mechanics and nerve, clean of defense and shot difficulty. For a team it shows execution under pressure, and since free throws often decide close games, a team that makes them is worth a little more than its field goal numbers suggest.

How Free Throw is calculated

FT% = Free Throws Made ÷ Free Throws Attempted

FT%: Free Throw Percentage / FTM: Free Throws Made / FTA: Free Throw Attempts

The catch

Watch for

FT% matters more for some players than others

A big who takes eight free throws a game moves team efficiency far more than a guard who takes two. The same 75% costs a high-volume foul-drawer much more. How often a player gets to the line decides how much his percentage matters.

Watch for

Teams can hunt a poor free throw shooter

Deliberately fouling a weak free throw shooter is a real tactic. A starter who makes 55% from the line is a liability in the last two minutes of a close game. Free throw percentage carries weight beyond efficiency, into who a coach can trust on the floor late.

Seen in a game

Baskonia made the most of their free throws in 2025–26 at 81.5%, and still finished 13-25. Free throw shooting is real value, but it cannot paper over a roster. At the other end, Valencia reached 28-16 despite making only 71.9% from the line, the worst mark in the league. Their strengths elsewhere carried them, but that gap is free points left on the floor across a long season, and the kind of thing that turns a tight playoff game.

Common questions

What is free throw percentage?: Free throw percentage is the share of free throws a player makes. Because free throws are uncontested, it is one of the purest measures of shooting touch.
How is free throw percentage calculated?: Divide made free throws by attempted free throws. A player who makes 68 of 80 shoots 85 percent from the line.
Why does free throw percentage matter?: It converts drawn fouls into points and often predicts a player's outside touch. In close games, reliable free-throw shooters are the ones you want holding the ball late.