During Michael Jordan’s NBA career (1984–2003), he averaged a free throw completion percentage of 83.5% in regular season play. If Jordan threw 8,772 free throws in his career, how many completed free throws did he make?
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To calculate how many completed free throws Michael Jordan made, you need to multiply his total free throw attempts by his free throw completion percentage.
Formula:
Completed Free Throws=Total Free Throws Attempted×Free Throw Completion Percentage\text{Completed Free Throws} = \text{Total Free Throws Attempted} \times \text{Free Throw Completion Percentage}Completed Free Throws=Total Free Throws Attempted×Free Throw Completion Percentage
Given Information:
- Total Free Throws Attempted = 8,772
- Free Throw Completion Percentage = 83.5% (which we convert to a decimal by dividing by 100)
Step-by-step Calculation:
- Convert the percentage to a decimal: 83.5%=83.5100=0.83583.5\% = \frac{83.5}{100} = 0.83583.5%=10083.5=0.835
- Multiply the total free throws attempted by the completion percentage: Completed Free Throws=8,772×0.835=7,323.72\text{Completed Free Throws} = 8,772 \times 0.835 = 7,323.72Completed Free Throws=8,772×0.835=7,323.72
Since you can’t make a fraction of a free throw, we round this number to the nearest whole number.
Final Answer:
Completed Free Throws≈7,324\text{Completed Free Throws} \approx 7,324Completed Free Throws≈7,324
Explanation:
Michael Jordan attempted 8,772 free throws during his career, and his free throw completion rate was 83.5%. By multiplying the number of attempts by his shooting accuracy (83.5%), we find that he completed approximately 7,324 free throws in total. This calculation is a simple application of percentage to real-life data, showing how efficient Jordan was at the free throw line throughout his career.
