On Sunday, Feb. 14 the 13-12 Boston Celtics took a trip to Capital One Arena to face the 6-17 Washington Wizards for a Valentine’s Day matchup. The first half of the game saw a rare sight in the NBA: a completely airballed free throw.
These guys get paid a LOT of money to shoot a basketball and while they of course don’t always have a perfect game, usually they get at least close to the net.
In the rare moments that the basketball sails far from the basket, it’s as shocking for the players as it is for the fans to see, though it does make these players more relatable — I mean who watching hasn’t completely embarrassed themselves shooting the ball?
During the first half between the Celtics and the Wizards, Washington star Russell Westbrook lined up on the free throw line with the home team up 31-21.
What happened next left Westbrook flabbergasted.
Take a look:
Following the obvious miss, Westbrook kept his feet in place, staring at the net rather confused, looking like the basket had wronged him in some way. He stood there for a few moments before brushing it off and getting back to the action.
While Westbrook’s free throw was the miss that stood out the most, the Celtics were the ones seriously struggling from the line in the first half of play.
The C’s went 4-of-10 while the Wizards went 15-of-17 from the line in the half.