Adam Silver Says NBA to Discuss 'Hack-a-Shaq' Rules This Summer

The "hack-a-player" strategy has never been popular among NBA fans, and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has drawn some ire during the playoffs this year for his persistent fouling of Los Angeles Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan.NBA commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN.com he will examine ways this summer to dissuade teams from using the tactic, perESPNDallas.com's TimMacMahon:It's something that I'm on the fence about. My thought used to be that we should definitely change the rule, and then having sat through several general managers meetings, competition meetings and having heard from some of the game's very best, the view is the players should hit their free throws. That's changed my view a little bit.Having said that, when I watch some of these games on television, frankly, it's not great entertainment for our fans, and that's important as well. What I've said is we have another general managers meeting coming up in May, we have a competition committee meeting in June, and I'm sure it's going to be a hot topic of discussion.Then, we have an owners meeting in July, so I think at all three of those meetings we're going to be having full-throated conversations about what the right rules should be going forward.Most associate the hack-a-player maneuver with Shaquille O'Neal, who shot 52.7 percent from the foul line during his career. Over time, opposing teams deemed that it was better to send O'Neal to the line than try to defend him in the paint.Now, teams are most often targeting stars such as Jordan and Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard, both of whom have never been great from the charity stripe.Popovich himself admitted in January that "Hack-a-Shaq" is a loathsome game plan, but he added that wouldn't preclude him from using it, per ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell:I hate it. I think it's awful. I hate doing it. Seriously. I think it's a pain in the neck, fans don't like it, I don't like it, nobody likes it. It disrupts the flow of the game. If there's an equitable way to get rid of it, I'm all for it.But it's part of the game. It's part of the rules now and if you think somebody can't shoot a free throw you might as well take advantage of it. If you think somebody can't shoot you don't guard him the same way. So [the strategy's] fair, it's just kind of ugly I think.In two playoff games against the Spurs so far, Jordan has attempted an average of 14.5 free throws a game, nearly triple his season average of 5.7 per contest.Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick argued Thursday that the league should do something to discourage Popovich and other coaches from deploying the hack-a-player technique:Of course, some will inevitably counter that if a player simply makes his free throws, teams won't willingly send him to the line in the first place.Because there is no clear consensus among NBA fans, coaches, players and even Silver himself, this should be a hotly debated issue during the offseason.
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