It's not every day that NBA players airball a free throw. It's even more uncommon for them to airball a technical free throw. Los Angeles Lakers Kyle Kuzma may be the first player to do so and the Golden State Warriors bench let him know about it.
After the technical foul on rookie James Wiseman in the second quarter on Monday, Kuzma went to the charity stripe for a quick point. But it wasn't a freebie as he expected as he badly missed the shot, hitting nothing but air. Kuzma got so embarrassed, he just eventually laughed it off.
But not before getting laughed at by Draymond Green and the rest of the Warriors bench (via NBA beat reporter Anthony Puccio).
Warriors having some fun with Kuz after air balling a FT 🤣 pic.twitter.com/tL2C92wZdl
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) March 16, 2021
ESPN's Marc J. Spears has yet to verify the statistics, but he said Kuzma might be the first player in NBA history to airball a technical foul shot.
Kuzma might have tossed the first air balled technical foul shot in the history of the NBA. pic.twitter.com/RAlX5AQS0n
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) March 16, 2021
As expected, fans quickly pounced Kuzma on Twitter with a series of memes and hot takes.
Kuzma airballed a tech free throw? LeBron never letting him take one again💀
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 16, 2021
Airballing a technical free throw is a blooper in itself. But one fan pointed out that what made it worse is that there were literally no fans in the venue. So nerves weren't a factor. Kuzma was just plain bad on that instance.
I still can’t even believe I saw Kyle Kuzma literally AIR BALL A TECHNICAL FOUL SHOT WITH NO FANS IN THE STANDS. If that’s not a #SportscenterNotTop10 or #ShaqtinAFool then I don’t know what is.
— Jamaal Street (@JamaalStreet) March 16, 2021
One Twitter user, however, was nice enough to cut Kuzma some slack. Yes, Kuzma's shot was tragic. But it hasn't taken the top spot for the worst free throw attempt ever.
The ACTUAL worst free throw attempt of all time pic.twitter.com/d8SZMYV9Z0 https://t.co/V8CxPAWJRi
— Backdoor Cuts (@stoolbackcuts) March 16, 2021
The embarrassing airball aside, Kyle Kuzma has been having a solid year, stepping up in the absence of star big man Anthony Davis.