SGA doesn’t shoot that many free throws compared to the elite scorers throughout history. In fact, when compared to other scoring champs, he’s about average

SGA is shooting 8.9 FTA per game so far this season, good for 2nd this year (Giannis, 10.2). Since he’s probably going to end up being the scoring champion, I wanted to see how this stacks up against other scoring champions, and see if there’s really any truth to the free throw merchant allegations.

TLDR; Since 86-87 there has been 13 seasons (out of 38) where the scoring leader shot less free throws than SGA this season. Carmelo Anthony and Steph Curry are the only scoring champions who have never had a season with more FTA than SGA this season. 7 of those 13 seasons are Michael Jordan. Elite scorers get fouled because they’re impossible to guard

Because I have organic chemistry homework and I don’t want to do this all night, I started in 86-87 (Jordan’s first scoring title), and looked at FTA for all players that led the league in scoring. Here’s what I found:

Last years scoring champion, Luka Doncic, averaged 8.7 FTA per game. In 2022-23 he shot 10.5 FTA per game and in 2019-20 he shot 9.2 FTA per game, giving him 2 seasons where he averaged more FTA than SGA this year.

In the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Joel Embiid was the leading scorer. He averaged 11.8 FTA in 21-22 and 11.7 in 22-23. He also averaged 9.2 in 20-21 and 10.2 in 23-24, giving him 4 seasons with more FTA than SGA this season.

Steph Curry was the scoring champion in 15-16 and 20-21. He averaged 5.1 in 15-16 and 6.3 in 20-21. He has never had a season above 6.3 FTA per game.

James Harden was the scoring champ in 17-18, 18-19, and 19-20. In 17-18 he averaged 10.1 FTA, in 18-19 he averaged 11.0 FTA, and in 19-20 he averaged 11.8 FTA. He also averaged 10.9 in 16-17, 10.2 in 15-16, 10.2 in 14-15, 10.2 in 12-13, and 9.1 in 13-14, giving him 8 seasons with more FTA than SGA this year.

Russell Westbrook was the scoring champ in 14-15 and 16-17. He averaged 9.8 FTA in 14-15 and 10.4 in 16-17. Those are his only 2 seasons with more FTA than SGA this year.

Kevin Durant was the scoring champ in 09-10, 10-11, 11-12, and 13-14. In 09-10 he averaged 10.2 FTA, 8.7 in 10-11, 7.6 in 11-12, and 9.9 in 13-14. He also averaged 9.3 in 12-13, giving him 3 seasons with more FTA than SGA this season.

Carmelo Anthony was the scoring champion in 12-13, averaging 7.6 FTA per game In 09-10 and 05-06 he averaged 8.9 FTA per game, giving him 2 seasons where he was tied with SGA.

In 08-09 Dwayne Wade was the scoring champion, averaging 9.8 FTA per game. He averaged 10.7 in 05-06, 10.5 in 06-07, 9.9 in 04-05, 9.2 in 07-08, and 9.1 in 09-10, giving him 6 seasons with more FTA than SGA this year.

In 07-08 Lebron James was the scoring champion, averaging 10.3 FTA per game. He also averaged 10.3 in 05-06, 10.2 in 09-10, 9.4 in 08-09, and 9.0 in 06-07, giving him 5 seasons with more FTA than SGA this year.

In 05-06 and 06-07, Kobe Bryant was the scoring champion, averaging 10.2 FTA in 05-06 and 10.0 in 06-07. He also averaged 10.1 in 04-05 and 9.0 in 07-08, giving him 4 seasons with more FTA than SGA this season.

Tracy McGrady was scoring champion in 02-03 and 03-04. He averaged 9.7 FTA in 02-03 and 7.5 in 03-04. He has one season with more FTA than SGA this season.

Allen Iverson was scoring champion in 04-05, 01-02, 00-01, and 98-99. He averaged 10.5 FTA in 04-05, 9.8 in 01-02, 10.1 in 00-01, 9.9 in 98-99. He also averaged 11.5 in 05-06, 9.7 in 07-08, 9.5 in 03-04, 9.4 in 06-07, 9.0 in 02-03, and 8.9 in 99-00, giving him 10 seasons with more FTA than SGA this season.

(This one is formatted differently because MJ led the league in scoring way too many times). Michael Jordan was scoring champion in 86-87 (11.9), 87-88 (10.5), 88-89 (9.8), 89-90 (8.5), 90-91 (8.2), 91-92 (7.4), 92-93 (7.3), 95-96 (8.0), 96-97 (7.0), and 97-98 (8.8). He also averaged 9.1 FTA in 84-85, giving him 4 seasons with more FTA than SGA this season.

Shaquille O’Neal was the scoring champion in 99-00 and 94-95. He averaged 10.8 FTA in 94-95 and 10.4 in 99-00. He also averaged 13.1 in 00-01, 11.4 in 97-98, 10.8 in 02-03, 10.7 in 01-02, 10.5 in 93-94, 10.5 in 04-05, 10.2 in 98-99, 10.1 in 03-04, 9.5 in 95-96, 9.4 in 96-97, and 8.9 in 92-93, giving him 12 seasons where he shot more FTA than SGA this season and 1 where he was tied.

David Robinson was scoring champion in 93-94 with 11.6 FTA per game. He also averaged 10.5 in 94-95, 10.2 in 89-90, 10.0 in 95-96, 9.5 in 90-91, 9.3 in 92-93, and 9.0 in 97-98, giving him 7 seasons with more FTA than SGA this season.

All data from basketball reference