Cam Spencer’s .940 made him the first Grizzlies free-throw percentage champion

MEMPHIS — Oct. 15, 2026 — Cam Spencer finished 2025-26 as the NBA’s free-throw percentage champion, making 126 of 134 attempts for a .940 mark with the Grizzlies, per Basketball-Reference. He is the first player in Grizzlies franchise history, Vancouver or Memphis, to appear on the year-by-year free-throw percentage leaders list, and his title came in only his second NBA season.

The margin was not close. Stephen Curry, the 2024-25 champion at .933, finished second at .923, which left Spencer 1.7 percentage points clear at the top. His 126 makes also cleared the league’s 125-make qualifying minimum, so the title was official rather than a small-sample curiosity.

The 2025-26 free-throw leaderboard

The top five qualified free-throw shooters, per Basketball-Reference:

• Cam Spencer, Grizzlies: .940 (126 of 134)
• Stephen Curry, Warriors: .923
• Desmond Bane, Magic: .908
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Hawks: .902
• Derrick White, Celtics: .902

LaMelo Ball and Max Christie (.899), Lauri Markkanen (.896) and Brandon Miller and Tyrese Maxey (.892) rounded out the top 10.

Highest winning mark in 17 seasons

Spencer’s exact figure, .9403, is the highest league-leading free-throw percentage since José Calderón shot .9805 for the Raptors in 2008-09. It edged Brian Roberts, who won the 2013-14 title for the Pelicans at .9398, by four ten-thousandths of a point, and topped Steve Nash’s .9378 in 2009-10.

On the NBA year-by-year list dating to 1949-50, only eight winning seasons were higher: Calderón (.9805), Calvin Murphy (.9581 in 1980-81), Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (.9563 in 1993-94), Jeff Hornacek (.9500 in 1999-00), Mark Price twice (.9475 and .9474), Rick Barry (.9467 in 1978-79) and Ernie DiGregorio (.9452 in 1976-77).

More than the line

The free-throw title was part of a broader shooting season. Spencer shot .473 from the field and .449 on 3-pointers, third in the league behind Luke Kennard (.478) and Bobby Portis (.456). His effective field goal percentage was .604, his true shooting percentage .649 (12th in the NBA) and his offensive rating 133.0, eighth league-wide.

He did it as a playmaker, too. In 72 games and 20 starts, Spencer averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 assists in 23.8 minutes, and he led a 25-57 Memphis team in both total assists (400) and 3-pointers made (146). His assist percentage of 33.1 ranked 14th in the league.

The official league account’s recap of a January win over the Spurs shows how that looked late in games: 21 points, 13 of them in the fourth quarter, plus eight assists.

Cam Spencer and Jaren Jackson Jr. lead the charge as the @memgrizz defeat the Spurs in a THRILLER!

Spencer: 21 PTS (13 in 4Q), 8 AST
Jackson Jr.: 21 PTS, 9 REB, 2 STL, 3 BLK pic.twitter.com/nTCX6vKVT0

— NBA (@NBA) January 7, 2026

From No. 53 to a stat title

Detroit selected Spencer 53rd overall in the second round of the 2024 draft, months after he won a national championship at UConn, and he landed in Memphis. Across his first two seasons he has made 145 of 153 free throws (.948), including 19 for 19 as a rookie.

The volume is the caveat: Spencer attempted 1.9 free throws per game, far fewer than most leaders, and Bane and Curry got to the line more often. But the qualifying bar is set by makes, and he cleared it. He enters 2026-27 as the defending free-throw percentage champion when the regular season opens October 20.