NBA: 10 strangest free throw routines in NBA history

NBA: 10 strangest free throw routines of all time

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11 Jun 1997: Jeff Hornacek of the Utah Jazz hangs his head during the Jazz 90-88 loss to the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. /

6. Jeff Hornacek

Karl Malone isn’t the only member of the Utah Jazz to make this list. Backup guard Jeff Hornacek easily makes the cut. He would always rub his face three times before attempting a free throw. For the longest time I thought he was allergic to the charity stripe. Perhaps he was rubbing his face because he was nervous about the idea of an entire arena being fixated on just him. Turns out it was his way of saying hello to his children at home.

It’s a very touching gesture. But how did Hornacek come up with the routine? “They were always asking me to wave to them. I couldn’t really do that, so this is what I came up with,” shared the former All-Star in an interview with Newsday. “I started getting letters from all over the world and people started asking about it and suddenly our secret wave wasn’t so secret anymore.”

The special motion for his family was certainly a successful move. For his career, Hornacek shot 87.7 percent from the free throw line. In his final season, he made 95 percent of his shots from the line. I can think of a few poor shooters in the league today that may need to start rubbing their faces before free throws.