Silver says he’s mulling ways to stop Hack-a-Shaq

TORONTO — Commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday that no changes are coming to the rules on “Hack-a-Shaq” deliberate fouls this season, though he seems to favor an adjustment.

With no consensus within the NBA about what a change would entail, Silver seems to be taking it upon himself to come up with something.

“So I think it’s my job right now to at least formulate an alternative together with the competition committee to ultimately bring to our board of governors,” Silver said during his All-Star news conference.

Silver said the strategy of intentionally fouling poor shooters away from the ball has increased this season, which has caused him to rethink his stance.

“As I said last summer, I said I was personally on the fence. ... I’m beginning to feel that a change needs to be made,” Silver said. “And that comes in response to conversations with our network partners. It comes in response to fan data that we look at. We’re constantly surveying our fans to get their sense of what they see out on the

floor. I’m talking to players and general managers, and our owners, of course.”

Mostly used on Shaquille O’Neal when he played, coaches now find Houston’s Dwight Howard, Detroit’s Andre Drummond and the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan apt targets. Although the strategy slows the game and has drawn more criticism this season as techniques such as jumping on a player’s back during a free throw or fouling an inbounds passer have increased, nobody seems to have a good solution. Briefly: MVP Jimmer Fredette scored 35 points to lead the Eastern Conference to a 128-124 victory over the Western Conference in the D-League AllStar game. ... All-Star forward Chris Bosh will have more exams on his strained right calf when he gets back to Miami, possibly as early as Monday. Bosh dropped out of the AllStar Game and was replaced by Atlanta’s Al Horford. ... Carmelo Anthony says he has no plans to leave New York and is angry about a report linking him to trade talks.