List of NBA annual free throw scoring leaders

Karl Malone led the NBA in free throw scoring for a record eight seasons.

In basketball, a free throw is an unopposed attempt to score points from behind the free throw line. ^[1] The National Basketball Association's (NBA) free throw scoring leader is the player with the highest average of free throws made per game in a given season. Jerry West holds the record for highest free throw scoring average in a season, which he accomplished with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1965–66 NBA season with 10.63 free throws made per game. To qualify as a free throw scoring leader, the player must have at least 125 free throws made. Aside from the strike shortened 1998–99 and 2011–12 seasons, this has been the entry criteria since the 1974–75 season. ^[2] Karl Malone has led the league in free throw scoring a record eight times. James Harden has led the league seven times, while Neil Johnston and Oscar Robertson have each done it four times.

Annual leaders

^		Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
*		Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
‡		Denotes player who won the scoring title that year
Player (X)		Denotes the number of times the player had been the scoring leader up to and including that season
G	Guard		F	Forward	C	Center

Season	Player	Pos [a]	Team	GP	Free throws made	Free throws made per game	Free throw percentage	Ref
1946–47 ‡	Joe Fulks *	F	Philadelphia Warriors	60	439	7.32	.730	[3]
1947–48	Joe Fulks * (2)	F	Philadelphia Warriors	43	297	6.91	.762	[4]
1948–49 ‡	George Mikan *	C	Minneapolis Lakers	60	532	8.87	.772	[5]
1949–50 ‡	George Mikan * (2)	C	Minneapolis Lakers	68	567	8.34	.779	[6]
1950–51 ‡	George Mikan * (3)	C	Minneapolis Lakers	68	576	8.47	.803	[7]
1951–52 ‡	Paul Arizin *	F	Philadelphia Warriors	66	578	8.76	.818	[8]
1952–53 ‡	Neil Johnston *	C	Philadelphia Warriors	70	556	7.94	.700	[9]
1953–54 ‡	Neil Johnston * (2)	C	Philadelphia Warriors	72	577	8.01	.747	[10]
1954–55 ‡	Neil Johnston * (3)	C	Philadelphia Warriors	72	589	8.18	.766	[11]
1955–56	Neil Johnston * (4)	C	Philadelphia Warriors	70	549	7.84	.801	[12]
1956–57	Dolph Schayes *	F	Syracuse Nationals	72	625	8.68	.904	[13]
1957–58 ‡	George Yardley *	F	Detroit Pistons	72	655	9.10	.811	[14]
1958–59 ‡	Bob Pettit *	F/C	St. Louis Hawks	72	667	9.26	.759	[15]
1959–60	Elgin Baylor *	F	Minneapolis Lakers	70	564	8.06	.732	[16]
1960–61	Elgin Baylor * (2)	F	Los Angeles Lakers	73	676	9.26	.783	[17]
1961–62 ‡	Wilt Chamberlain *	C	Philadelphia Warriors	80	835	10.44	.613	[18]
1962–63	Bob Pettit * (2)	F/C	St. Louis Hawks	79	685	8.67	.774	[19]
1963–64	Oscar Robertson *	G	Cincinnati Royals	79	800	10.13	.853	[20]
1964–65	Oscar Robertson * (2)	G	Cincinnati Royals	75	665	8.87	.839	[21]
1965–66	Jerry West *	G	Los Angeles Lakers	79	840	10.63	.860	[22]
1966–67 ‡	Rick Barry *	F	San Francisco Warriors	78	753	9.65	.884	[23]
1967–68	Oscar Robertson * (3)	G	Cincinnati Royals	65	576	8.86	.873	[24]
1968–69	Oscar Robertson * (4)	G	Cincinnati Royals	79	643	8.14	.838	[25]
1969–70 ‡	Jerry West * (2)	G	Los Angeles Lakers	74	647	8.74	.824	[26]
1970–71	Dave Bing *	G	Detroit Pistons	82	615	7.50	.797	[27]
1971–72	Tiny Archibald *	G	Cincinnati Royals	76	677	8.91	.822	[28]
1972–73 ‡	Tiny Archibald * (2)	G	Kansas City-Omaha Kings	80	663	8.29	.847	[29]
1973–74 ‡	Bob McAdoo *	C/F	Buffalo Braves	74	459	6.20	.793	[30]
1974–75	Tiny Archibald * (3)	G	Kansas City-Omaha Kings	82	652	7.95	.872	[31]
1975–76 ‡	Bob McAdoo * (2)	C/F	Buffalo Braves	78	559	7.17	.762	[32]
1976–77 ‡	Pete Maravich *	G	New Orleans Jazz	73	501	6.86	.835	[33]
1977–78	Adrian Dantley *	F	Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Lakers	79	541	6.85	.796	[34]
1978–79	World B. Free	G	San Diego Clippers	78	654	8.38	.756	[35]
1979–80	World B. Free (2)	G	San Diego Clippers	68	572	8.41	.753	[36]
1980–81	World B. Free (3)	G	Golden State Warriors	65	528	8.12	.814	[37]
1981–82	Adrian Dantley * (2)	F	Utah Jazz	81	648	8.00	.792	[38]
1982–83	Moses Malone *	C	Philadelphia 76ers	78	600	7.69	.761	[39]
1983–84 ‡	Adrian Dantley * (3)	F	Utah Jazz	79	813	10.29	.859	[40]
1984–85	Moses Malone * (2)	C	Philadelphia 76ers	79	737	9.33	.815	[41]
1985–86	Moses Malone * (3)	C	Philadelphia 76ers	74	617	8.34	.787	[42]
1986–87 ‡	Michael Jordan *	G	Chicago Bulls	82	833	10.16	.857	[43]
1987–88	Charles Barkley *	F	Philadelphia 76ers	80	714	8.93	.751	[44]
1988–89	Karl Malone *	F	Utah Jazz	80	703	8.79	.766	[45]
1989–90	Karl Malone * (2)	F	Utah Jazz	82	696	8.49	.762	[46]
1990–91	Karl Malone * (3)	F	Utah Jazz	82	684	8.34	.770	[47]
1991–92	Karl Malone * (4)	F	Utah Jazz	81	673	8.31	.778	[48]
1992–93	Karl Malone * (5)	F	Utah Jazz	82	619	7.55	.740	[49]
1993–94 ‡	David Robinson *	C	San Antonio Spurs	80	693	8.66	.749	[50]
1994–95	David Robinson * (2)	C	San Antonio Spurs	81	656	8.10	.774	[51]
1995–96	David Robinson * (3)	C	San Antonio Spurs	82	626	7.63	.761	[52]
1996–97	Karl Malone * (6)	F	Utah Jazz	82	521	6.35	.775	[53]
1997–98	Karl Malone * (7)	F	Utah Jazz	81	628	7.75	.761	[54]
1998–99 [b]	Karl Malone * (8)	F	Utah Jazz	49	378	7.71	.788	[56]
1999–00	Jerry Stackhouse	G/F	Detroit Pistons	82	618	7.54	.815	[57]
2000–01	Jerry Stackhouse (2)	G/F	Detroit Pistons	80	666	8.33	.822	[58]
2001–02 ‡	Allen Iverson *	G	Philadelphia 76ers	60	475	7.92	.812	[59]
2002–03 ‡	Tracy McGrady *	G/F	Orlando Magic	75	576	7.68	.793	[60]
2003–04	Corey Maggette	G/F	Los Angeles Clippers	73	526	7.21	.848	[61]
2004–05 ‡	Allen Iverson * (2)	G	Philadelphia 76ers	75	656	8.75	.835	[62]
2005–06	Allen Iverson * (3)	G	Philadelphia 76ers	72	675	9.38	.814	[63]
2006–07 ‡	Kobe Bryant *	G	Los Angeles Lakers	77	667	8.66	.868	[64]
2007–08	Kevin Martin	G	Sacramento Kings	61	502	8.23	.869	[65]
2008–09 ‡	Dwyane Wade *	G	Miami Heat	79	590	7.47	.765	[66]
2009–10 ‡	Kevin Durant ^	F	Oklahoma City Thunder	82	756	9.22	.900	[67]
2010–11 ‡	Kevin Durant ^ (2)	F	Oklahoma City Thunder	78	594	7.62	.880	[68]
2011–12 [c]	Kevin Love ^	F	Minnesota Timberwolves	55	379	6.89	.824	[70]
2012–13	James Harden ^	G	Houston Rockets	78	674	8.64	.851	[71]
2013–14 ‡	Kevin Durant ^ (3)	F	Oklahoma City Thunder	81	703	8.68	.873	[72]
2014–15	James Harden ^ (2)	G	Houston Rockets	81	715	8.83	.868	[73]
2015–16	James Harden ^ (3)	G	Houston Rockets	82	720	8.78	.860	[74]
2016–17	James Harden ^ (4)	G	Houston Rockets	81	746	9.21	.847	[75]
2017–18 ‡	James Harden ^ (5)	G	Houston Rockets	72	624	8.67	.858	[76]
2018–19 ‡	James Harden ^ (6)	G	Houston Rockets	78	754	9.67	.879	[77]
2019–20 ‡	James Harden ^ (7)	G	Houston Rockets	68	692	10.18	.865	[78]
2020–21	Joel Embiid ^	C	Philadelphia 76ers	51	471	9.24	.859	[79]
2021–22 ‡	Joel Embiid ^ (2)	C	Philadelphia 76ers	68	654	9.62	.814	[80]
2022–23 ‡	Joel Embiid ^ (3)	C	Philadelphia 76ers	66	661	10.02	.857	[81]
2023–24	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ^	G	Oklahoma City Thunder	75	567	7.56	.874	[82]
2024–25 ‡	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ^ (2)	G	Oklahoma City Thunder	76	601	7.91	.898	[83]

Multiple-time leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Times leader	Years
1	Karl Malone	Utah Jazz	8	1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999
2	James Harden	Houston Rockets	7	2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
3	Neil Johnston	Philadelphia Warriors	4	1953, 1954, 1955, 1956
	Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati Royals		1964, 1965, 1968, 1969
5	Tiny Archibald	Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings	3	1972, 1973, 1975
	Adrian Dantley	Los Angeles Lakers (1) / Utah Jazz (2)		1978, 1982, 1984
	Kevin Durant	Oklahoma City Thunder		2010, 2011, 2014
	Joel Embiid	Philadelphia 76ers		2021, 2022, 2023
	World B. Free	San Diego Clippers (2) / Golden State Warriors (1)		1979, 1980, 1981
	Allen Iverson	Philadelphia 76ers		2002, 2005, 2006
	George Mikan	Minneapolis Lakers		1949, 1950, 1951
	Moses Malone	Philadelphia 76ers		1983, 1985, 1986
	David Robinson	San Antonio Spurs		1994, 1995, 1996
14	Elgin Baylor	Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers	2	1960, 1961
	Joe Fulks	Philadelphia Warriors		1947, 1948
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Oklahoma City Thunder		2024, 2025
	Bob McAdoo	Buffalo Braves		1974, 1976
	Bob Pettit	St. Louis Hawks		1959, 1963
	Jerry Stackhouse	Detroit Pistons		2000, 2001
	Jerry West	Los Angeles Lakers		1966, 1970

See also

• NBA records
• List of NBA career free throw percentage leaders
• List of NBA career free throw scoring leaders
• List of NBA annual field goal percentage leaders
• List of NBA annual scoring leaders
• Basketballportal
• Sportsportal

Notes

1. The player's primary position is listed first.
2. The 1998–99 season was shortened to 50 games due to the league's lockout. ^[55] The qualification of this season's scoring title is to appear in at least 43 games (out of 50) or to have at least 854 points.
3. The 2011–12 season was shortened to 66 games due to the league's lockout. ^[69] The qualification of this season's free throw scoring title is to appear in at least 56 games (out of 66).

References

• "Yearly Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goals". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 6, 2024.

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