Hook Shot

A hook shot, in basketball, is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of his arm in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Unlike the jump shot, it is shot with only one hand; the other arm is often used to create space between the shooter and the defensive player. The shot is quite difficult to block, but few players have mastered the shot more than a few feet from the basket. Former Harlem Globetrotter Goose Tatum is often credited with inventing the hook shot; he would even shoot them without looking at the basket. The hook shot later became a staple of many players in the NBA, including notable stars such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Yao Ming.

In FIBA games, hook shots were a revered skill for centers before dunks became more popular; mostly because of the relative difficulty of blocking such shots.