12 NBA Players Who Get the Most "Star Treatment"

It happens at the moment of contact when a player is shooting. The refs then have to determine whether the contact was the responsibility of the shooter or the defender. The belief is that "stars" are more likely to get favor of the call than non-stars. 

So I got to wondering, who gets the most "star treatment" and how would you measure it? To simply log the most shooting fouls wouldn't tell you about how likely you are to get the call. It simply tells you how often the player draws contact.

So to figure out who gets the most "star treatment" I first decided that a player needed to get to the line with some kind of frequency, so I took all the players who average five free throws per game.

Next, I logged the number of times players drew shooting fouls and the number times they committed charges. I filtered out those who had drawn contact fewer than 200 times to keep the list from being full of names like Ramon Sessions and Danilo Gallinari.  

I then determined the sum of total times drawn contact and ranked the players by the percentage of the time they get the call when the whistle is blown, i.e. a list of players who are most likely to get the call or the "star treatment." 

I'll supplement that statement with the point that in actuality it's not entirely a measure of "star treatment." There are other factors, such as a player's ability to draw a player into committing contact, but in the end it means the same thing; these are the stars who are the best at getting the call. 

All the data I collected came from a tiny little blog called "Weak Side Awareness" where the writer actually went through every box score from the season and tallied up all the shooting fouls and charges. He's got tons of interesting stuff so click on the link if you have some time. 

12. Amare Stoudemire

The Knicks fans fell in love with Amare Stoudemire and there's little wonder why. He was a huge part of the reason that the Knicks were in the playoffs and not the lottery this year.

Out of the 353 times "STAT" drew contact last season, he got the call 85.6 percent of the time, good enough to start off our list.

11. Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant is a surprise at No. 11. Many would have him as a player who is the very definition of star treatment.

Perhaps it's because he doesn't drive the lane the way he used to. Maybe it's just perception isn't always accurate.

Either way, this year of the 275 times he was involved in contact while shooting, he got the benefit of the call 236 times. That comes out to 85.8 percent, still good for 11th on the list but not as high as you might have expected. 

10. Nene Hilario

Nene Hilario is one of the biggest free agent names on the market now, so he meets the definition of star. 

Of course, what every team trying to sign him is saying is, "If Hilario joined us, that would be 'hilarious'." (My apologies, I've been trying to force that one into an article for a while now.)

He drew 194 shooting fouls and only had 30 charges for a percentage of 86.6 percent, good enough to place him 10th on the list.

9. LeBron James

Another player who I expected to be higher up on this list, and another reason this kind of research has benefits. LeBron did draw 269 shooting fouls, the third most of anyone on this list. His 40 charges are tied for most of anyone on this list, though.

Combined, that means he only got the benefit of the doubt 87.1 percent of the time, good enough for ninth but not what we would have expected.

8. Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant is a master at drawing the shooting foul. He made the most free throws of any player in the NBA this season.  He not only gets to the line, he takes advantage of it when he does.

There were 261 times when the Durantuala felt his web shake this year, and he caught the fly 231 times, good for an 88.5 percent rate.

7. Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade drew more shooting fouls than anyone not named Dwight Howard, and unlike Howard, most of those weren't on purpose. He was that player James was tied with for most charges, with though.

There were 355 times that Wade had contact while shooting; 315 of those times he got to the line, an 88.7 percent rate.

6. Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin goes to the rim awfully hard. You might have noticed that. He's aptly named, as the fierceness with which he plays resembles what you might expect to see from a griffin, a half-lion, half-eagle beast.

That fierceness led Grifin to get 309 shooting fouls compared to just 36 charges this year, amounting to 89.6 percent of the time. Not bad for a rookie, huh?

5. Kevin Love

If Kevin Love named his kid after Stoudemire, his name would be Amar'e Love. Just thought I'd point that out.

Speaking of love, the refs seem to love Love. Of the 236 times a whistle was blown while Love was shooting, he went to the stripe 213 times. That's good for 90.3 percent and fifth place on the list.

4. Chris Bosh

Chris "the Half" Bosh, proves he doesn't deserve the nickname bestowed on him here. He might not be the biggest star of the big three, but he gets close to the most star treatment. He only drew 22 charges, while drawing 219 shooting fouls, good for 90.9 percent. 

Just in case you're wondering, the big three combined for 1786 free throw attempts, that's 78 percent of the Heat's total attempts and more than the Hawks' or Warriors' entire teams!

3. LaMarcus Aldridge

LaMarcus Aldridge is a surprise at No. 3. He's probably the biggest star that's not a star in the NBA. He was elected to the third team All-NBA team but he wasn't elected to the All-Star Game. It's time to correct this injustice! I exhort all readers to vote for Aldridge next year!

How's that for inspiring? Aldridge barely made the 200 contact cutoff, but he did. He was fouled 296 times compared to just 19 charging calls. That comes out to a 91.2 percent rate, good for third on the star treatment list. If he's getting the star treatment, it's time to start treating him like a star.

2. Kevin Martin

Kevin Martin is a tremendous offensive talent. I'm not sure how many people, if asked, would have been able to name Martin as the player tied with Durant for most free throws made. Martin has the ability to draw shooting fouls without getting called for the foul.

Out of 268 times there was contact while Martin was shooting, 249 times it went in his favor compared to just 19 times it didn't. That's a 92.9 percent rate, second best in the NBA.

1. Derrick Rose

For whatever reason, whenever I do a list and Derrick Rose comes out on top, people accuse me of "being a homer" as though somehow my fandom has such great power that it can actually warp reality and make things happen differently than they actually did. 

I am as surprised as anyone to see Rose come out first. The reason he gets there, though, makes sense. He was only called for 14 charges the entire season compared to 239 shooting fouls drawn.

His incredible speed makes it hard for defenders to get position on him and draw the charge. He's going to get to the point of contact first 95 percent of the time, or more accurately, 94.5 percent of the time.