Yes Way, Jose: Calder-On Track for Best Free Throw Percentage in NBA Season

A few months ago I wrote a story about how Yao Ming leads a litany of 7-foot-3+ players in career free throw shooting accuracy. Impressively, the top six free thow shooting "giants" were born outside of the United States.

Until this year, though, Americans dominated free throw shooting excellence within a season - considering all heights. (Abdul-Rauf changed his name from Chris Jackson). This year, though, Toronto's Spanish point guard has shot to the head of the pack on the strength of an 87-consecutive free throw streak:

1.	Jose Calderon	.9800	2008-09
2.	Calvin Murphy*	.9581	1980-81
3.	Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf	.9563	1993-94
4.	Jeff Hornacek	.9500	1999-00
5.	Mark Price	.9475	1992-93
6.	Mark Price	.9474	1991-92
7.	Rick Barry*	.9467	1978-79
8.	Ernie DiGregorio	.9452	1976-77
9.	Maurice Williams	.9437	2008-09
10.	Ray Allen	.9434	2008-09

(n.b. Canadian Steve Nash is currently 11 and Serbian Peja Stojakovic is 21).
(source: basketball-reference.com)

His streak 0f 87, which ended Jan. 30th, places him 2nd in the all-time list for consectutive free throws made:

N.B.A. Consecutive Free Throws Records
97 straight	Micheal Williams, Minnesota Timberwolves, 3/24/1993-11/9/1993 (two seasons)
81 straight	Mahmoud Abdul Rauf, Denver Nuggets, 1993-11/16/1993 (two seasons)
78 straight	Calvin Murphy, Houston Roskets, 12/27/1980-2/28/1981 (one season)
77 straight	Mark Price, Cleveland Cavaliers, 1993 (one season)
75 straight	Ricky Pierce, Seattle SuperSonics, ends 12/13/1991 (one season)
74 straight	Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns, 4/6/07 to 11/30/07 (two seasons; 21 in 2006-07, 53 in 2007-08)
73 straight	Caron Butler, Washington Wizards, to 2/3/2008 (one season)
71 straight	Larry Bird, Boston Celtics, 12/19/1989-2/13/1990 (one season)
67 straight	Terrell Brandon, Cleveland Cavaliers, 12/8/1995-1/5/1996 (one season)
67 straight	Jeff Hornacek, Phoenix Suns, 11/12/1999-1/6/2000 (one season)
66 straight	Peja Stojakovic, Minnesota Timberwolves, 3/23-5/10/2004 (41 sraight reg. season + 15 straight playoffs)

(n.b. 3 international players now fill the top 13 including Calderon)
(source: mindspring.com)

Here's chicly crafted video of Calderon's impeccable shooting form:



Here's a nice break-down of Calderson's mechanics by the ABA's all-time leader Rick Barry.

And here's video of the miss itself. Notice it happens only a few days after the above video, just as Calderson said he feared it would: