Rick Barry suggests that New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson take the under.
The Hall-of-Famer offered an unconventional solution to Robinson’s struggles at the foul line in an interview with Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, suggesting that the longest tenured New Yorker learn how to shoot singles underhanded.
“If he would spend the offseason working on his underhand free throws having the correct technique, he becomes a very valuable commodity for the Knicks next season,” Barry told Bondy. “He’ll wind up getting paid even more money. So he should do it because it’ll help make him a s***tload of money and make him a better player.”
Robinson’s free throw woes have been a recurring subplot in the Knicks’ ongoing playoff run. Their current opponent, the Boston Celtics, has been more than willing to expose Robinson’s glaring weakness, intentionally fouling Robinson amidst Karl-Anthony Towns’ early foul trouble to get him to the charity stripe, where the backup five is 7-of-23 over the first three games.
To Barry’s point, Robinson has been a difference-maker for the Knicks since he returned to the floor after a lengthy medical absence due to an ankle injury: through two games of the second round, Robinson’s plus-minus was second-best among all conference semifinal participants behind only Oklahoma City superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Boston, however, has continued to engage in the “Bewitch-a-Mitch” gambit and it has worked in their favor: Robinson’s current success rate of 28.9 percent is the second-lowest in NBA playoff history among men with at least 30 attempts, besting only Detroit Pistons star Ben Wallace in 2006.
Barry, 81, has offered to tutor Robinson personally, and even attempted to negotiate a floating salary from the Knicks in his interview with Bondy.
“Pay me according to how much he improves,” Barry said. “I guarantee you he’s going to improve … Pay me some money to do it, and then give me a bonus if he’s able to do it.”
Best-known for his endeavors with the San Francisco/Golden State Warriors, Barry was perhaps the most renowned practitioner of the underhanded free throw. Barry hit over 89 percent of his tries between the NBA and ABA and led the pros in success rate on six occasions, the second-most all-time behind only Bill Sharman.
The underhanded free throw has also employed by NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain, as the NBA legend combated his own notoriously poor single success rate by switching in 1961-62, which saw him shoot a career-best 61.3 percent. Though he eventually abandoned the strategy, Chamberlain sank an NBA single-game record 28 during his famed 100-point game against the Knicks in 1962 (tied by Adrian Dantley in 1984).
Barry himself was skeptical of tactic when taught by his father, claiming “girls shot that way.” The elder Barry, however, made an undeniable point that may have changed the course of the Association’s free throw history.
“I didn’t want to do it when my father tried to teach me back in high school,” Barry told Bondy. “I said, ‘They’re going to make fun of me.’ He said, ‘Son, they can’t make fun of you if you’re making them.’ So fortunately, I did give it a sincere effort. And when I gave it a try, I said, ‘Holy s–t, this is pretty damn good.’”
