The world record holder for consecutive free throws wasn’t a professional, he was actually a podiatrist. Dr. Tom Amberry, who once shot 2,750 consecutive free throws totaling 12 straight hours without a single miss, died at 94.
Dr. Amberry was a great college basketball player in the 40’s. After going to North Dakota and transferring to Long Beach City College, Amberry was Junior College Player of the Year and was offered a pro contract by the Minneapolis (now LA) Lakers. But given this was the 50’s and pro athletes got paid next to nothing and thus was no way to make a living, he decided to go to podiatry school and open a practice.
After retiring, Amberry practiced free throws so often that he would shoot over 500 free throws every day except on Sunday’s. And according to his own records, Amberry shot more than 500 consecutive free throws 473 times. Meanwhile, I’m lucky if I can make five in a row.
Even with this kind of incredible attention to detail to free throw shooting, Amberry didn’t go into coaching when he retired. He did write a book about free throw shooting and consulted various teams. Considering how woeful some current NBA players are with free throw shooting, they could use his advice on how to shoot more accurately. Maybe the people making tens of millions won’t look like an embarrassment when they go to the line for an uncontested shot from the same distance every time.
[ABC News/Photo: AP]
