You Don't Throw a Basketball, So Why Is It Called a Free Throw? A VICE Sports Investigation

Welcome. After reading this, you're either going to think the next few minutes of your life were a quirky digression into curious basketball trivia, or you're going to scream that you've just wasted two minutes of your life and you want them back. (It is official VICE Sports policy not to offer refunds on your time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.)

But seriously, why are they called "free throws?"

In no other context do we call what basketball players do a "throw." We call them shots. So why are only free throws "throws?"

There is a real answer to this question.

Although they're sometimes called "foul shots," the official NBA rulebook favors the term "free throws," using it 255 times to one mention of "foul shot." But the NBA uses "shot" to refer to the act of trying to put the ball in the basket during regular play, not "throw." So what's the deal here?

In basketball founder James Naismith's book, Basketball: Its Origin and Development, Naismith does in fact call them "free throws." But he also calls many other shots "throws." When describing the game, he uses phrases like "throw the ball in an arc," "throw for goal," and "throw the ball into the basket." In fact, "throw" is a far more common term in Naismith's book than "shot" or "shoot," which are rarely used.

Why is this? Who the hell knows. To venture a guess: free throws were originally supposed to be imprecise and low-percentage attempts. "When the free throw was introduced, it was with the idea that many of the shots would be missed and the value of a foul would depend on the skill of the team at throwing goals," Naismith wrote. "Throw," with roots in Middle English meaning "to cause to twist," is a less precise term than "shot," which evolved from its roots in Old English relating to projectiles (for example, we say a last-second full-court heave is a throw). Given that Naismith meant for free throws to be imprecise, it makes sense he would use "throw."

Now that NBA free throws are made three out of every four times, perhaps it's time to change the name accordingly. Maybe they should be foul shots now. Or free shots. Or maybe regular shots, being less accurate than foul shots, should be known as throws. Steph Curry has a pretty good throwing percentage this year, am I right?

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