No one in baseball makes contact like Luis Arraez.
No one in basketball makes free throws like Stephen Curry.
And that’s what the San Diego Padres’ lefty hitter and the Golden State Warriors’ legendary sharpshooter have in common.
On Tuesday, baseball stats expert Ryan Spaeder shared the following post on X:
#Warriors Steph Curry, career:
4,442 free throw attempts | 392 misses
91.1% free throw percentage (NBA record)#Padres Luis Arráez, career:
5,999 swings | 458 whiffs
92.4% contact rate pic.twitter.com/xxMcYU28kS— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) August 19, 2025
Arraez swings and misses at a lower rate than Curry misses free throws at, and Curry is the greatest free throw shooter by percentage in NBA history.
For those keeping score at home: Baseballs are coming toward Arraez at insane speeds with incredible movement. The basket isn’t moving anywhere for Curry.
This is not to say Arraez is a future Hall of Fame lock like Curry. These are different skills, only one part of these magnificent games.
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The thing Curry has that Arraez doesn’t is the home run swing. Curry’s shooting prowess extends beyond the 3-point arc, where he has made more trifectas than any player in the history of the planet.
Arraez, in 3,109 career at bats, has hit 34 home runs. It’s one of the lowest home run rates of any player to overlap with Arraez’s career.
That doesn’t lessen how cool Arraez is. He’s a throwback player.
In an era of swinging for the fences, Arraez simply swings to hit the ball, and he does it excellently. He has three career batting titles.
No, he’s not Curry.
But to watch someone perform a task at such prodigious rates is cool, even if it’s just shooting free throws or the simple act of getting the bat to the baseball.
When sports can crossover, it makes these games we love even that much more fun to follow.
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