Dwight Howard Used to Sing Beyoncé Songs to Help Him Focus at Free Throw Line

Dwight Howard revealed he used to sing Beyoncé songs to focus at the free throw line. Look how it turned out.

Image via USA TODAY Sports/Troy Taormina

Recently signed Atlanta Hawks big man Dwight Howard has never been proficient at the free throw line. His first year was actually his best (he shot 67 percent), while this past year was his worst (49 percent). What's a guy to do when he's one of the world's most elite athletes but he's worse at the free throw line than most high schoolers?

Sing Beyoncé, it turns out. According to a new TrueHoop article, Howard once tried singing her songs to himself at the line as a focusing mechanism.

"I used to sing Beyoncé songs, that was my thing," Howard said. "I told her about it when I saw her. I said, 'When I sing your song, I make my free throws.' She seemed to like that."

It's not clear why Howard stopped. Perhaps it was ineffective, but he's not the first player to admit to singing at the free throw line. Last year, Dirk Nowitzki said early in his career he used to sing Counting Crows' "Mr. Jones" to himself.

"I don't know why that song, but I loved that song, I still love that song," Nowitzki said.

As writer Tom Haberstroh outlines in his extensive piece on the ailments of poor free throw shooters, the pressure of the moment can really rattle these NBA stars.

"Free throw shooting is all mental," Howard said. "In practice, I don't miss. In warm-ups, I don't miss. When I get into a game, I hear people say, 'He's going to miss,' and it gets inside my head."

Howard has effectively become the face of a generation of bad free-throw shooting big men.

"Because of all the attention to it, our flaw has been magnified to the whole world," Howard said. "I've got little kids at basketball camps telling me, 'My dad says you suck at free throws.' Other players have flaws, but they aren't getting magnified the way the free throws are."

Though the NBA modified its "Hack-a-Shaq" rules this offseason, as many have noted, it won't make much of a difference. So, don't expect to see Howard at the line any less this season. Time to learn some new songs, Dwight.

Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.

Latest in Sports