Fadeaway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: Basketball moves

A fadeaway in basketball is a jump shot while jumping backwards, away from the basket. The goal is to create space between the shooter and the defender, making it much harder to block. However, this benefit comes with a drawback. The shooter must have very good accuracy (much higher than when releasing a regular jump shot) and must use more strength (to counteract the backwards momentum) in a relatively short amount of time. Also, because the movement is away from the basket, the shooter has less chance to grab his own rebound. However, once mastered, it is one of the hardest methods of shooting for defenders to block. The threat of a fadeaway forces a defender to jump into the shooter, and with a pump fake, the shooter can easily get a foul on the defender.

Wilt Chamberlain was renowned for his fadeaway shot, which he used to great effect in the 1960's. Michael Jordan was one of the deadliest fadeaway shooters in history. Another excellent fadeaway shooter was Larry Bird. Hakeem Olajuwon, the all-star center, also adopted it into his repertoire. In the modern era, Kobe Bryant is considered to be one of the deadliest fadeaway shooter in the NBA.