We have a bit of an NBA mystery on our hands.
Dwight Howard has never been the greatest of free-throw shooters — he’s a career 56.5 percent from the charity stripe — but he’s shooting a career-worst 47.2 percent this year.
Maybe he had to change his routine? It appears that he has … and it’s kind of a weird change: as folks on Twitter have noticed, it looks like Howard is actually standing a few steps BACK behind the free throw line, so he’s shooting from farther distance.
Seriously! He’s doing that. Ben Falk of Cleaning the Glass noted brought my attention to it on Monday:
Has anyone seen any reporting on why Dwight Howard is shooting free throws a few feet behind the free throw line?
As best I can tell, it started in the 2/6 game against Houston. pic.twitter.com/SASEhpmIn6
— Ben Falk (@bencfalk) February 24, 2020
If Howard did indeed start in the Lakers’ win over the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 6, he’s hit 15 of 31 from the line, a 48.4 percent clip. Still not great. This definitely goes back to earlier in the month:
Dwight Too strong for the Free Throw Line 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/4guPQBDMDu
— IM NICEE (@maxisnicee) February 9, 2020
Dwight’s free-throw routine 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7FmxwYUn4a
— ESPN (@espn) February 13, 2020
People are mystified. We need answers:
Why did Dwight Howard just shoot his free throw 3 feet behind the line??
— The Hound (iPhone 11) (@TheHoundIsReal) February 23, 2020
Lol Dwight cheating shooting his free throw that far back
— Baby Biz (@__Bnice) February 23, 2020
Dwight is too strong for a free throw lmao that’s crazy lmao
— K (@BasedAllah_) February 23, 2020
Dwight Howard using a new tactic at the free-throw line. Shooting about a foot and a half from the line.
Reminds me of Nick Van Exel back in the day. pic.twitter.com/E4mFdu5SEn
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) February 23, 2020
Dwight is like three feet behind the free throw line shooting FT 🤨
— Trevor Risher (@tre_swavey_ris3) February 23, 2020
Am I trippin or does Dwight shoot far away from the free throw line when he shoots free throws? Lol
— Krodicon (@Krodicon) February 23, 2020
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