Free Throws
Free Throws Made (FTM) and Attempted (FTA) track the shots from the line given after certain fouls. The free throw is the purest test of a shooter's mechanics: same spot, no defender, every time.
What Free Throws measures
Free throws are points that do not require beating a defender or running a play. A player who gets to the line often and makes them is producing efficient offense out of nothing. One who cannot make them turns a scoring chance into the other team's ball.
How Free Throws is calculated
FT% = FTM ÷ FTA × 100
Divide free throws made by free throws taken and multiply by 100.
FTM: Free Throws Made / FTA: Free Throws Attempted / FT%: Free Throw Percentage
The catch
A missed free throw is the most expensive miss in basketball
A missed field goal at least leaves a rebound to fight for. A missed free throw hands the other team the ball for nothing. You already drew the foul, stopped the clock, and got a clean look. The cost is far bigger than how easy the shot looks.
A big who cannot shoot free throws becomes a target
Deliberately fouling a poor free throw shooter is a real tactic because some players make under half. A team's best rebounder or rim protector can be stuck on the bench in crunch time purely for that, and it reshapes the game.
Seen in a game
In 2025–26 Nando De Colo of ASVEL made 97.9% of his free throws, nearly perfect across the whole season, squeezing every point out of each trip. At the team level Valencia showed the other side. Even with a strong 28-16 record and a league-high 90.4 points a game, they made just 71.9% from the line, the worst mark in the league, a small leak that can decide a tight playoff night.
Common questions
- What is a free throw in basketball?
A free throw is an uncontested shot from the foul line, worth one point, awarded after certain fouls.
- What does FT mean in basketball stats?
FT stands for free throws, shown as made-attempted, and FT% is the share made. They are the only shots taken with no defender and the clock stopped.
- Why do free throws matter so much?
They are the most efficient points in the game and they decide close finishes. Teams that draw fouls and make free throws add cheap points and put opponents in foul trouble.
