Meet the NBA rookie who shoots free throws 'granny style'

Perhaps lost in your post-holiday food coma was a bit of important news: An NBA rookie who just made his debut for the Houston Rockets shoots his free-throws in what's known on schoolyards across America as, simply, "granny style."

This is the story of Chinanu Onuaku.

Onuaku played his first NBA game Monday night for the Houston Rockets. When Onuaku stepped to the free throw line for the first time in his young career, the basketball world collectively gasped.

Here was a man shooting free throws underhanded, like a grandmother or a second-grader (or Rick Barry, but we'll get to that in a minute). And Onuaku did it well -- he was 2-2 from the charity stripe during the game.

Now, before we continue, behold his awesomely awkward form.

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Who, you may ask, is Chinanu Onuaku?

The 6-foot-10, 245-pounder is 20 years old. He's a rookie from the University of Louisville.

Onuaku started shooting free throws underhanded before his second and final season with the Cardinals, according to an ESPN.com article from November 2015. And how'd that go? The statistics say it went pretty well. Onuaku raised his free throw percentage from a completely atrocious 47 percent as a freshman to a slightly less atrocious 59 percent as as sophomore.

Take that, haters.

Still, Onuaku is no Rick Barry.

Barry was an NBA star in the '60s and '70s. He shot 89 percent from the free throw line during his career -- a top-10 mark in league history. And he shot them underhand.

Ever since, NBA observers have wondered why more players who struggle from the charity stripe don't adopt the underhanded approach. Malcolm Gladwell even explored the issue earlier this year.

Now here's Chinanu Onuaku. He's in the NBA. He's shooting free throws underhanded -- better known as "granny style."

But Barry's not exactly impressed.

"I admire the fact he was willing to try to something different," Barry told The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, a day after Onuaku's NBA debut. "Unfortunately, his technique leaves a lot to be desired."

Ouch. That's harsh, Rick. Very harsh.