, that suggests the Lakers are the beneficiaries of a referee's whistle far more often than they pay any price. The Lakers have attempted 428 more free throws than their opponents this season — more than twice as many as any other team and 830 more than the team with the worst free-throw disparity .
James, their second-leading free-throw shooter, missed 17 of those games. The new-look Lakers were 10-7 in his absence, moving from 13th place in the Western Conference firmly into the play-in tournament mix.They have received more free throws than their opponents from 53 of the NBA's 65 referees While the Lakers rank 20th in drives per game this season — not great for those willing to refute biases — they rank sixth in paint touches and fifth in field-goal attempts at the rim. You would think those are situational advantages for a higher frequency of free throws. Except, the Houston Rockets have more paint touches and more field-goal attempts at the rim, and they have a free-throw disparity of 78 this season.
There is a chicken-and-egg debate to be had here. Is the ability of a player to get to the rim and draw contact what makes him a star, or does his stardom increase the likelihood he gets to the line? On average, the Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant gets to the rim once more per game this season than he did as a rookie, and yet his free throws have nearly doubled in the time he developed into an All-NBA first-team selection.