Forget nothing but net: KBL goes viral for bank shot free throws

A compilation of Korean Basketball League free throws has gone viral this week after a coach in the United States noticed that KBL players’ reliance on bank shots has produced an unusually high free throw success rate.

A viral post from basketball coach Eric Fawcett claims that KBL players are scoring more free throws with bank shots. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A compilation of Korean Basketball League free throws has gone viral this week after a coach in the United States noticed that KBL players’ reliance on bank shots has produced an unusually high free throw success rate.

Interesting trend from the Korean Basketball League where a number of players are 80%+ from the free throw line shooting exclusively bank shots. pic.twitter.com/OBKmVW3pfa

— Eric Fawcett (@EricFawcett_) August 31, 2023

“Interesting trend from the Korean Basketball League where a number of players are 80%+ from the free throw line shooting exclusively bank shots,” Fawcett said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A bank shot is a shot into the basket made by rebounding the ball off the backboard. In the KBL it is a common way to take a free throw — essentially the basketball equivalent of a penalty — while in the NBA, players tend to shoot directly for the basket.

Fawcett’s initial post was followed by a long analysis piece — “A Viral Clip From the Korean Basketball League Could Change the World” — from Tom Haberstroh at Slate, including quotes from basketball professor Larry M. Silverberg, who’s extensive study of bank shot free throws has found that they require more strength and are therefore less successful over the long term.

A study on bank shot aficionado Kirk Goldsberry from Yaron Weitzman at the Ringer backs this up, finding that over 18 seasons between 2003-04 and 2020-21, Goldsberry’s conversation rate fell from 77 percent to 55 percent.

With that in mind, should Fawcett’s viral clip really be treated with quite the level of excitement it received?

In reality, league stats suggest that the KBL free throw success rate is actually lower than in the NBA.

In recent years, the NBA has had a free throw success rate hovering around the 75 percent. The KBL, meanwhile, had a league free throw success rate at 72.9 percent last season.

The Seoul SK Knights reached the playoff final despite having a free throw percentage of just 71.7 percent, while the fourth place Goyang Carrot — now the Goyang Sono Skygunners — had a league-leading 78.6 percent.

Even on a player-by-player basis, the KBL trails behind the NBA.

Over in the NBA, Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat led the league last season with a free throw percentage at 93.4 percent.

In the KBL, meanwhile, Lee Dae-sung, who now plays for SeaHorses Mikawa in Japan but spent last season with the Daegu Kogas Pegasus, led the league with 86.8 percent, followed by Heon Ung of KCC Egis with 84.7 percent and Yang Hong-seok, who now plays for the Changwon LG Sakers but spent last season with the Suwon KT Sonicboom, with 84.5 percent.

Of the three, Yang is the only one that tends to regularly opt for bank shot free throws.

So in reality, the KBL has not revolutionized free throw taking forevermore in quite the way that some U.S. pundits hope, although there is perhaps a greater preference here for bank shots — with varied levels of success.

"The way I see it is, it just comes down to the player's preference," an Anyang JungKwanJang Red Boosters official told the Korea JoongAng Daily. "But I don't think that we have ever offered any specific training designed to encourage bank shot free throws."

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]