The strategy commonly referred to as ‘Hack-a-Shaq’ affects the rhythm and enjoyment of NBA games, but commissioner Adam Silver isn’t planning to eliminate the practice.
According to ESPN, Silver said he’s “conflicted” about the hack-a-player strategy because it eliminates some enjoyment. Silver said the league is not changing anything right now but will continue tracking the impact.
“We had a long discussion about with the competition committee this summer and the decision was to leave it and let’s continue to track it. … It’s bad, I get it, from an aesthetic standpoint, from an entertainment standpoint, for fans.”
Since the issue is essentially limited to DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard with a side of Josh Smith, the NBA shouldn’t change the rules.
Silver said coaches from all over the world have shared the same sentiment.
“On the other hand, I hear from literally thousands of coaches – not just from the United States but from around the world – saying, ‘You cannot change this rule. What lesson does that send? The kids who are learning the game, this is a fundamental part of the game: A guy’s got to be able to make free throws.'”
The league is certainly in a difficult situation. For certain stretches of games, defenses will intentionally foul a particular opponent who is a poor free-throw shooter. So, for a few immensely boring minutes, the game crawls on at a one-possession pace.
Instead of seeing the up-tempo offenses race up and down the floor, it’s one shot, one foul, two free throws, repeat. But still, the issue is confined to the Clippers and Rockets.
Drastically tweaking the rule to favor poor free-throw shooters sends a bad message, but the constant stop and start of action is a problem for watchability.
The only perfect solution to the problem is Jordan and Howard improving at the charity stripe, and that’s not going to happen. Good luck, NBA.