Steven Adams is one of the most unique and interesting players in the NBA, and it appears that he has applied those traits to his technique for practicing free throws.
It turns out that Adams, during the midst of his free throw sessions, will have one of Oklahoma City's assistant coaches sneak up on him and punch him in the gut when he's not expecting it. No, seriously. Via the Norman Transcript:
He plays one of the most physical styles of any NBA player. And he owns an unmatched, eccentric personality. So, when he's working from the charity stripe, he has Thunder assistant coach Darko Rajaković come out of nowhere and, every once in a while, upper-cut him in the stomach just when he least expects it.
Personally, I'm trying to get punched in the gut as few of times as possible, but hey, if Adams thinks this is going to help him shoot free throws better, then more power to him. It certainly isn't going to hurt (his free throw percentage, that is).
The Oklahoma City big man is one of the worst free throw shooters in the league, finishing 109th out of 114 qualified players with a 61.1 percent free throw percentage last season, though that mark was a career high for Adams, and about three percentage points better than the seaosn before, so perhaps this gut punching business will keep him on the right track.
