Toronto Raptors: 3 team records that will never be broken

In honour of the Toronto Raptors’ record-breaking first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers this seaosn, we count down three team records that will never be broken.

In a building that has not been friendly to the Raptors in years past, Toronto dropped a team record 87 points in the first half in their 135-115 win over the Cavs last week.

In honour of a night that is now etched into the Raptors’ history books, here’s a look at three team records that will never be broken.

Highest free throw percentage in a season – José Calderón – 98.1 per cent

Starting off the list is no mere franchise record; José Calderón’s remarkable accuracy from the charity stripe during the ’08-09 season set a bar yet to be passed by anybody in the NBA.

The circumstances around Calderón draining 98.1 per cent of his free throws in ’08-09 are quite peculiar. That season also saw Calderón mark a career high in free throw attempts per game. This means that in the year he set the record, he also took the most shots, inherently meaning that he had more opportunities to miss.

What’s also strange is what happened the following season. In ’09-10, Calderón’s free throw percentage fell off a cliff. He set a career-low of 79.8 per cent, one year removed from hardly missing a single free throw. He would never dip below 80 per cent again until his retirement after the ’18-19 season.

Calderón holds this league record by a wide margin. In second place is NBA Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy, at 95.8 per cent.

While no Raptor is anywhere near Calderón’s record, one player is within range of Murphy’s mark. Utah’s Jordan Clarkson has made 94.5 per cent of his free throws this season. While this is a shortened season, Clarkson’s achievement is still nothing to scoff at.

Still, it’s going to take a downright robotic performance to unseat Calderón from the top of the leaderboards.