NBA Foul Drawing by Player

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NBA 2004-05 Foul Drawing Leaders

One interesting measure of a player's game that doesn't get a lot of attention is how well he draws fouls. Provoking the defender into making contact, whether by fake, bake, or shake, and getting those free shots from the line is an important characteristic. Below we list the best and worst at drawing shooting fouls, and further down we show all the players sorted by Team.

Current Foul Drawing leaders for NBA 2004-05

Best Foul Drawing players
[Minimum: 100 Attempts as of 1/18/05]

Team Player Fouls Shots Foul%

SEA Fortson 91 253 36.0%

NYK Sweetney 51 201 25.4%

NYK Williams 40 166 24.1%

MIA O'Neal 171 729 23.5%

ORL Howard 80 341 23.5%

CHI Chandler 59 252 23.4%

UTA Kirilenko 41 176 23.3%

PHO Stoudemire 197 849 23.2%

WAS Haywood 63 280 22.5%

SEA Evans 36 166 21.7%

IND Foster 36 169 21.3%

HOU Ming 123 588 20.9%

LAC Maggette 136 654 20.8%

PHO Hunter 30 145 20.7%

NJN E.Williams 48 233 20.6%

CLE Ilgauskas 109 544 20.0%

MIL Pachulia 37 190 19.5%

MIA Wade 140 722 19.4%

MEM Gasol 117 603 19.4%

NJN Mourning 35 185 18.9%

* Shots = FGA + Fouls Drawn

Hmmm. Do you detect a pattern? The vast majority of the top twenty foul drawers are big men with more than a little power in their game.
Far and away the leader in this category is Danny Fortson who is helped by the fact that many of his shot attempts come after securing an offensive rebound, which is a circumstance where if you're under the basket, you are likely to get hacked. Kudos though go to Fortson for not only drawing and withstanding the contact, but also knocking down his free throws at a rate that has many guards envious.
Also worth highlighting is the incredible Corey Maggette who draws fouls the best of perimeter players, and Dwyane Wade, who for the first time in a while could give Maggette a run for the money for the 'best foul drawing small man' award.
For Cleveland fans we'd also add that Anderson Varejao just missed making the minimum shots, with 95, but has a very healthy 26.3% foul drawing rate.

Worst Foul Drawing players
[Minimum: 100 Attempts as of 1/18/05]

Team Player Fouls Shots Foul%

POR Stoudamire 16 474 3.4%

MIN Hudson 11 324 3.4%

NJN Buford 11 324 3.4%

ORL Nelson 7 206 3.4%

CHI Duhon 6 177 3.4%

HOU Jackson 9 292 3.1%

NOH Freije 4 129 3.1%

MIA Butler 8 268 3.0%

UTA Eisley 5 168 3.0%

WAS Peeler 3 100 3.0%

POR Van Exel 10 353 2.8%

NYK K.Thomas 11 430 2.6%

LAC Brunson 5 194 2.6%

BOS McCarty 3 115 2.6%

MIN Hoiberg 3 114 2.6%

NJN Kidd 6 244 2.5%

NOH Armstrong 4 163 2.5%

CHA Kapono 7 309 2.3%

CHA House 3 138 2.2%

MIA D.Jones 4 329 1.2%

PHI Korver 2 345 0.6%

This tale of the tape features the opposite story -- we get a bunch of small men and three point shooting specialists -- some would more cynically say these guys are allergic to being in the paint! Most of the players on the list are not a big surprise, but there are a couple of names that, to put it mildly, have some explaining to do!
Kurt Thomas is ostensibly a power forward, so how come he draws fouls at such a paltry rate given he is banging inside? Well, that's just it, he's not. Jump shots account for over 91% of his attempts, and virtually all mid-range two's at that.
Jason Kidd is coming back from the injury, and appears a little reluctant to mix it up. Not that he was among the leaders at initiating contact in the past, but the trend is clearly negative -- he was drawing fouls at a 6.7% clip in '03-04, and at a 9.1% rate in '02-03!
As for Korver and Damon Jones, well, they rarely step foot inside the three point line on offense. You might want to try it one day guys, good things could happen!

Best Foul Drawing players in the CLUTCH
[Minimum: 15 Attempts as of 1/18/05]

Team Player Fouls Shots Foul%

PHO Stoudemire 9 20 45.0%

IND O'Neal 5 17 29.4%

MIA O'Neal 12 43 27.9%

LAC Maggette 15 54 27.8%

HOU Ming 7 28 25.0%

CHA Wallace 5 20 25.0%

WAS Haywood 4 16 25.0%

WAS Hughes 13 53 24.5%

CLE Ilgauskas 8 33 24.2%

UTA Boozer 9 39 23.1%

CHI Curry 5 22 22.7%

LAL Odom 5 23 21.7%

MIL Mason 5 23 21.7%

UTA Okur 7 33 21.2%

MEM Gasol 6 29 20.7%

BOS Pierce 9 44 20.5%

POR Randolph 8 39 20.5%

SAS Ginobili 4 20 20.0%

MIA Wade 9 46 19.6%

WAS Arenas 8 41 19.5%

Okay, so it's the last five minutes of a close game, who then is the best at drawing the foul? This is an important consideration, because field goal percentages drop in clutch moments as the defense really digs in and arguably the refs demand a little more contact before they blow the whistle. You want your go-to guy to be able to create good shots, but also to get those freebies at the line.
The sample sizes clearly leave a lot to be desired, and with a 15 attempt minimum you are only looking at 116 players around the league at this stage. Still, the interesting thing is that the perimeter players are much more prominent on this list, accounting for eight of the twenty top spots. The Wizards in fact have both their starting guards among the leaders -- think they might be a tough team to face down the stretch!
In light of the limited data, we'd proclaim Maggette the king of foul drawing, since Shaq's numbers are boosted in part by teams prefering to send him to the line (although note all of the numbers in this article include shooting fouls only, we purposefully omitted non-shooting fouls that lead to free throws).

That takes you through the leaders, but if you are curious about other players not listed above, we present the team by team breakdowns for foul drawing:

Team Player Shooting Fouls Total Shots
(w/ fouls) Foul Drawing

ATL McCoy 3 16 18.8%

ATL J.Smith 37 232 15.9%

ATL D.Smith 2 13 15.4%

ATL Harrington 83 579 14.3%

ATL Childress 29 218 13.3%

ATL Ivey 12 91 13.2%

ATL Drobnjak 37 281 13.2%

ATL Walker 88 742 11.9%

ATL Willis 8 71 11.3%

ATL Ekezie 1 9 11.1%

ATL Collier 17 221 7.7%

ATL Diaw 7 96 7.3%

ATL Delk 17 250 6.8%

ATL Lue 6 106 5.7%

ATL Anderson 8 157 5.1%

ATL Barry 2 79 2.5%

ATL Miller 0 3 0.0%

BOS Banks 33 175 18.9%

BOS Pierce 107 686 15.6%

BOS Welsch 42 283 14.8%

BOS Perkins 6 42 14.3%

BOS Jefferson 32 235 13.6%

BOS Allen 26 195 13.3%

BOS Davis 65 508 12.8%

BOS Blount 42 352 11.9%

BOS LaFrentz 41 350 11.7%

BOS Payton 38 419 9.1%

BOS McCarty 3 115 2.6%

BOS West 0 7 0.0%

BOS Gugliotta 0 20 0.0%

BOS Reed 0 2 0.0%

CHI Chandler 59 252 23.4%

CHI Curry 77 452 17.0%

CHI Reiner 1 7 14.3%

CHI Harrington 18 137 13.1%

CHI Nocioni 34 297 11.4%

CHI Davis 18 165 10.9%

CHI Deng 39 462 8.4%

CHI Gordon 29 424 6.8%

CHI Hinrich 31 519 6.0%

CHI Piatkowski 5 107 4.7%

CHI Griffin 2 56 3.6%

CHI Duhon 6 177 3.4%

CHI Pargo 0 11 0.0%

CHI Williams 0 18 0.0%

CLE Varejao 25 95 26.3%

CLE Ilgauskas 109 544 20.0%

CLE Gooden 62 427 14.5%

CLE James 97 785 12.4%

CLE Williams 5 44 11.4%

CLE Jackson 3 30 10.0%

CLE Pavlovic 7 73 9.6%

CLE Snow 12 128 9.4%

CLE Newble 15 209 7.2%

CLE Traylor 11 152 7.2%

CLE McInnis 32 506 6.3%

CLE Harris 10 181 5.5%

CLE Wagner 1 56 1.8%

CLE Diop 0 35 0.0%

DAL Mbenga 1 5 20.0%

DAL Dampier 48 261 18.4%

DAL Nowitzki 136 799 17.0%

DAL Stackhouse 61 442 13.8%

DAL Henderson 16 132 12.1%

DAL Dickau 1 9 11.1%

DAL Howard 43 390 11.0%

DAL Daniels 26 258 10.1%

DAL Terry 24 301 8.0%

DAL Harris 16 206 7.8%

DAL Armstrong 6 77 7.8%

DAL Finley 23 347 6.6%

DAL Bradley 5 77 6.5%

DAL Booth 4 71 5.6%

DEN Lenard 2 11 18.2%

DEN Nene 39 229 17.0%

DEN Johnson 25 167 15.0%

DEN Camby 37 277 13.4%

DEN Anthony 83 662 12.5%

DEN Martin 67 537 12.5%

DEN Miller 64 525 12.2%

DEN Buckner 18 173 10.4%

DEN Russell 11 126 8.7%

DEN Elson 8 108 7.4%

DEN Tskitishvili 3 42 7.1%

DEN White 12 204 5.9%

DEN Boykins 20 393 5.1%

DET Jenkins 5 25 20.0%

DET Dupree 8 45 17.8%

DET Goldwire 3 17 17.6%

DET Ham 5 29 17.2%

DET B.Wallace 48 324 14.8%

DET Campbell 13 89 14.6%

DET McDyess 40 298 13.4%

DET Billups 61 474 12.9%

DET Parker 4 32 12.5%

DET Coleman 2 16 12.5%

DET Hamilton 81 707 11.5%

DET Prince 48 441 10.9%

DET Delfino 5 60 8.3%

DET R.Wallace 39 546 7.1%

DET Hunter 11 192 5.7%

DET Milicic 1 26 3.8%

GSW Cabarkapa 5 17 29.4%

GSW Sesay 9 51 17.6%

GSW Pietrus 43 253 17.0%

GSW Biedrins 1 6 16.7%

GSW Murphy 80 621 12.9%

GSW Davis 7 57 12.3%

GSW Claxton 48 420 11.4%

GSW Foyle 12 109 11.0%

GSW Richardson 60 634 9.5%

GSW Najera 11 117 9.4%

GSW Fisher 27 334 8.1%

GSW Dunleavy 33 431 7.7%

GSW Cheaney 11 217 5.1%

GSW Robinson 18 361 5.0%

GSW Flores 0 18 0.0%

HOU Ming 123 588 20.9%

HOU Mutombo 20 125 16.0%

HOU Sura 27 220 12.3%

HOU McGrady 105 872 12.0%

HOU Taylor 30 322 9.3%

HOU Padgett 5 56 8.9%

HOU Howard 27 321 8.4%

HOU Nachbar 3 46 6.5%

HOU Barry 4 72 5.6%

HOU Lue 6 128 4.7%

HOU Wesley 4 103 3.9%

HOU Weatherspoon 1 27 3.7%

HOU Jackson 9 292 3.1%

HOU Ward 2 79 2.5%

HOU Bowen 1 43 2.3%

HOU Barrett 1 58 1.7%

HOU Knight 0 1 0.0%

HOU Gaines 0 27 0.0%

IND Foster 36 169 21.3%

IND O'Neal 93 507 18.3%

IND Harrison 33 191 17.3%

IND Croshere 47 305 15.4%

IND Haislip 6 44 13.6%

IND Artest 18 137 13.1%

IND Gill 12 103 11.7%

IND Tinsley 54 481 11.2%

IND Edwards 3 27 11.1%

IND Curry 3 29 10.3%

IND Pollard 6 59 10.2%

IND Jackson 11 131 8.4%

IND F.Jones 27 328 8.2%

IND Johnson 7 108 6.5%

IND Bender 2 31 6.5%

IND J.Jones 10 168 6.0%

IND Fowlkes 1 18 5.6%

IND Miller 10 226 4.4%

IND Johnsen 0 22 0.0%

LAC Maggette 136 654 20.8%

LAC Moore 32 185 17.3%

LAC Wilcox 44 267 16.5%

LAC Brand 100 630 15.9%

LAC Rebraca 8 62 12.9%

LAC Kaman 15 155 9.7%

LAC Ross 12 139 8.6%

LAC Simmons 42 515 8.2%

LAC Martin 3 38 7.9%

LAC Jaric 14 247 5.7%

LAC Kittles 4 77 5.2%

LAC Livingston 3 69 4.3%

LAC Chalmers 2 51 3.9%

LAC Brunson 5 194 2.6%

LAC Penney 0 3 0.0%

LAC N'diaye 0 4 0.0%

LAL Mihm 64 343 18.7%

LAL Grant 11 61 18.0%

LAL Odom 83 491 16.9%

LAL Bryant 136 838 16.2%

LAL Butler 59 463 12.7%

LAL Vujacic 3 29 10.3%

LAL Brown 11 177 6.2%

LAL Jones 8 149 5.4%

LAL Atkins 14 364 3.8%

LAL Cook 9 260 3.5%

LAL Rush 0 20 0.0%

LAL Walton 0 24 0.0%

LAL Medvedenko 0 19 0.0%

LAL Divac 0 10 0.0%

MEM Emmett 1 3 33.3%

MEM Humphrey 12 59 20.3%

MEM Gasol 117 603 19.4%

MEM Cardinal 16 96 16.7%

MEM Swift 47 320 14.7%

MEM Jones 14 107 13.1%

MEM Watson 38 307 12.4%

MEM Wells 43 403 10.7%

MEM Battier 28 276 10.1%

MEM Wright 29 303 9.6%

MEM Miller 21 341 6.2%

MEM Posey 12 206 5.8%

MEM Burks 1 22 4.5%

MEM Williams 11 305 3.6%

MEM Tsakalidis 1 37 2.7%

MIA O'Neal 171 729 23.5%

MIA Wade 140 722 19.4%

MIA Zhi-zhi 2 12 16.7%

MIA Haslem 51 387 13.2%

MIA Anderson 9 81 11.1%

MIA Dooling 14 137 10.2%

MIA Laettner 11 136 8.1%

MIA Doleac 11 140 7.9%

MIA E.Jones 33 438 7.5%

MIA Allen 3 64 4.7%

MIA Butler 8 268 3.0%

MIA D.Jones 4 329 1.2%

MIA Person 0 54 0.0%

MIL Hamilton 12 38 31.6%

MIL Santiago 3 14 21.4%

MIL Pachulia 37 190 19.5%

MIL Gadzuric 40 221 18.1%

MIL Mason 91 541 16.8%

MIL Smith 35 312 11.2%

MIL Gill 10 90 11.1%

MIL Kukoc 4 36 11.1%

MIL Van Horn 19 229 8.3%

MIL Fizer 12 144 8.3%

MIL Redd 58 720 8.1%

MIL James 22 308 7.1%

MIL Strickland 8 112 7.1%

MIL Williams 22 343 6.4%

MIL Goldwire 0 0 0.0%

MIL House 0 17 0.0%

MIN Johnson 4 18 22.2%

MIN Madsen 13 61 21.3%

MIN Garnett 123 769 16.0%

MIN Szczerbiak 54 470 11.5%

MIN Thomas 1 9 11.1%

MIN Hassell 19 194 9.8%

MIN Olowokandi 13 164 7.9%

MIN Sprewell 29 420 6.9%

MIN Cassell 30 438 6.8%

MIN Carter 3 50 6.0%

MIN Griffin 13 322 4.0%

MIN Hudson 11 324 3.4%

MIN Hoiberg 3 114 2.6%

NJN Moiso 1 4 25.0%

NJN E.Williams 48 233 20.6%

NJN Mourning 35 185 18.9%

NJN A.Williams 6 33 18.2%

NJN Jefferson 99 663 14.9%

NJN Planinic 15 113 13.3%

NJN Krstic 28 210 13.3%

NJN Collins 34 255 13.3%

NJN Smith 7 66 10.6%

NJN Storey 1 11 9.1%

NJN Carter 23 264 8.7%

NJN Best 21 259 8.1%

NJN Vaughn 7 98 7.1%

NJN Dickens 1 15 6.7%

NJN Scalabrine 7 159 4.4%

NJN Buford 11 324 3.4%

NJN Mercer 1 37 2.7%

NJN Kidd 6 244 2.5%

NOH Edwards 5 30 16.7%

NOH Andersen 31 204 15.2%

NOH Notree 1 7 14.3%

NOH Magloire 20 151 13.2%

NOH Nachbar 9 69 13.0%

NOH West 11 87 12.6%

NOH Dickau 32 256 12.5%

NOH Davis 39 333 11.7%

NOH Brown 44 394 11.2%

NOH Nailon 43 468 9.2%

NOH Baxter 1 12 8.3%

NOH Wesley 30 372 8.1%

NOH Harrington 12 169 7.1%

NOH Rogers 9 128 7.0%

NOH Smith 11 192 5.7%

NOH Lynch 7 127 5.5%

NOH Freije 4 129 3.1%

NOH Armstrong 4 163 2.5%

NOH Garcia 1 53 1.9%

NYK Sweetney 51 201 25.4%

NYK Williams 40 166 24.1%

NYK Mohammed 72 410 17.6%

NYK Marbury 99 663 14.9%

NYK Ariza 24 193 12.4%

NYK Baker 3 28 10.7%

NYK Norris 8 87 9.2%

NYK T.Thomas 32 358 8.9%

NYK Crawford 29 488 5.9%

NYK Houston 12 205 5.9%

NYK Hardaway 6 110 5.5%

NYK K.Thomas 11 430 2.6%

NYK Brewer 0 8 0.0%

NYK Anderson 0 2 0.0%

NYK Sundov 0 18 0.0%

ORL Howard 80 341 23.5%

ORL Kasun 12 69 17.4%

ORL Cato 23 138 16.7%

ORL Augmon 11 70 15.7%

ORL Hunter 2 13 15.4%

ORL Francis 104 742 14.0%

ORL Battie 22 177 12.4%

ORL Hill 72 590 12.2%

ORL Turkoglu 45 471 9.6%

ORL Mobley 28 324 8.6%

ORL Stevenson 8 128 6.3%

ORL Garrity 7 166 4.2%

ORL Nelson 7 206 3.4%

ORL Christie 0 9 0.0%

ORL Bradley 0 7 0.0%

ORL DeClercq 0 0 0.0%

PHI Jackson 79 460 17.2%

PHI Ollie 4 27 14.8%

PHI Williamson 43 304 14.1%

PHI Dalembert 20 144 13.9%

PHI Iverson 128 948 13.5%

PHI Iguodala 36 286 12.6%

PHI Green 26 266 9.8%

PHI Skinner 6 61 9.8%

PHI Salmons 13 137 9.5%

PHI Thomas 30 356 8.4%

PHI Davis 3 46 6.5%

PHI McKie 1 38 2.6%

PHI Korver 2 345 0.6%

PHI Brown 0 1 0.0%

PHO Stoudemire 197 849 23.2%

PHO Hunter 30 145 20.7%

PHO Outlaw 4 22 18.2%

PHO Jacobsen 25 176 14.2%

PHO Cabarkapa 1 8 12.5%

PHO Voskuhl 4 32 12.5%

PHO Vroman 2 18 11.1%

PHO Marion 51 662 7.7%

PHO Lampe 4 53 7.5%

PHO Richardson 40 599 6.7%

PHO Barbosa 10 160 6.3%

PHO Nash 19 436 4.4%

PHO Johnson 20 561 3.6%

PHO Tabuse 0 6 0.0%

POR Carlisle 3 6 50.0%

POR Przybilla 17 80 21.3%

POR Ratliff 32 178 18.0%

POR Patterson 55 308 17.9%

POR Telfair 18 117 15.4%

POR Randolph 82 640 12.8%

POR Abdur-Rahim 37 297 12.5%

POR Miles 44 367 12.0%

POR Outlaw 6 66 9.1%

POR Thomas 1 11 9.1%

POR Anderson 30 383 7.8%

POR Stoudamire 16 474 3.4%

POR Van Exel 10 353 2.8%

POR Frahm 0 13 0.0%

POR Seung-Jin 0 1 0.0%

SAC Martin 11 57 19.3%

SAC Miller 76 441 17.2%

SAC Barnes 13 91 14.3%

SAC Ostertag 7 51 13.7%

SAC Bibby 64 544 11.8%

SAC Songaila 18 186 9.7%

SAC Evans 12 129 9.3%

SAC Christie 21 225 9.3%

SAC Stojakovic 55 643 8.6%

SAC Webber 51 733 7.0%

SAC Mobley 3 44 6.8%

SAC Jackson 16 265 6.0%

SAC House 0 17 0.0%

SAC Daniels 0 8 0.0%

SAS Duncan 134 803 16.7%

SAS Ginobili 70 453 15.5%

SAS Rose 26 215 12.1%

SAS Massenburg 7 58 12.1%

SAS Horry 16 143 11.2%

SAS Parker 49 564 8.7%

SAS Udrih 16 197 8.1%

SAS Barry 17 219 7.8%

SAS Brown 19 247 7.7%

SAS Bowen 19 304 6.3%

SAS Wilks 1 25 4.0%

SAS Nesterovic 9 252 3.6%

SEA Fortson 91 253 36.0%

SEA Evans 36 166 21.7%

SEA Daniels 47 359 13.1%

SEA James 14 119 11.8%

SEA Wilkins 2 18 11.1%

SEA Allen 78 776 10.1%

SEA Collison 14 139 10.1%

SEA Lewis 44 615 7.2%

SEA Murray 4 73 5.5%

SEA Ridnour 18 342 5.3%

SEA Radmanovic 19 424 4.5%

SEA Cleaves 0 1 0.0%

SEA Kutluay 0 1 0.0%

SEA Potapenko 0 6 0.0%

SEA Swift 0 3 0.0%

TOR Moiso 4 13 30.8%

TOR Bosh 93 531 17.5%

TOR Palacio 29 183 15.8%

TOR Woods 24 160 15.0%

TOR E.Williams 13 91 14.3%

TOR Peterson 42 387 10.9%

TOR Murray 23 251 9.2%

TOR Carter 29 331 8.8%

TOR Rose 43 510 8.4%

TOR Alston 34 503 6.8%

TOR Sow 1 16 6.3%

TOR Marshall 19 307 6.2%

TOR Araujo 4 75 5.3%

TOR Bonner 9 248 3.6%

TOR A.Williams 0 3 0.0%

UTA Kirilenko 41 176 23.3%

UTA Collins 18 80 22.5%

UTA Radojevic 5 24 20.8%

UTA Okur 66 410 16.1%

UTA Boozer 106 683 15.5%

UTA Borchardt 11 84 13.1%

UTA Humphries 13 104 12.5%

UTA McLeod 22 189 11.6%

UTA Harpring 46 437 10.5%

UTA Snyder 12 133 9.0%

UTA Giricek 29 332 8.7%

UTA Arroyo 21 253 8.3%

UTA Lopez 5 70 7.1%

UTA Bell 15 374 4.0%

UTA Eisley 5 168 3.0%

WAS Thomas 7 25 28.0%

WAS Ruffin 14 60 23.3%

WAS Haywood 63 280 22.5%

WAS Hughes 98 686 14.3%

WAS Arenas 98 705 13.9%

WAS Jeffries 28 217 12.9%

WAS Brown 8 67 11.9%

WAS Hayes 33 382 8.6%

WAS Profit 3 39 7.7%

WAS Jamison 55 740 7.4%

WAS Walker 2 29 6.9%

WAS Dixon 16 244 6.6%

WAS Blake 1 27 3.7%

WAS Peeler 3 100 3.0%

WAS Ramos 0 7 0.0%

CHA White 18 49 36.7%

CHA Sampson 11 55 20.0%

CHA Wallace 45 336 13.4%

CHA Ely 27 202 13.4%

CHA Bogans 41 332 12.3%

CHA Okafor 65 538 12.1%

CHA Knight 27 230 11.7%

CHA Brezec 37 351 10.5%

CHA T.Smith 2 32 6.3%

CHA Smith 10 161 6.2%

CHA Rush 11 193 5.7%

CHA Robinson 1 18 5.6%

CHA Hart 12 222 5.4%

CHA Slay 1 40 2.5%

CHA Kapono 7 309 2.3%

CHA House 3 138 2.2%

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