‘HACK-A-SHAQ’ WON’T BE OUTLAWED, SILVER SAYS
OAKLAND, Calif. — NBA commissioner Adam Silver doesn’t foresee a change in the intentional foul rule or playoff seeding before the start of next season.
Speaking before the NBA Finals on Thursday, Silver addressed several league issues, including the tactic of fouling a poor free-throw shooter to send him to the line.
The so-called “Hack-a-Shaq” practice, named for its use against retired star center Shaquille O’Neal, has come under increasing scrutiny because some argue that it disrupts the pace of games. But Silver said the league’s general managers are not supportive of changing the intentional foul rule, and he voiced concern that it might be a disincentive for young player to practice free-throw shooting.
“The data shows that we’re largely talking about two teams, throughout the playoffs,” Silver said. “In fact, 90 percent of the occurrences of Hacka-Shaq involve the Rockets and the Clippers, and for the most part it’s two players. Seventy-five percent involve two players, DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard.
“So then the question becomes, should we be making that rule change largely for two teams and two players?”
On the subject of playoff seeding, Silver said it’s not feasible to rank the teams 1 through 16 instead of by conference affiliation despite an imbalance between the East and West.
“I think ultimately where we came out is this notion of 1-through-16 seeding, while it seems attractive in many ways, because of the additional travel that will result, it just doesn’t seem like a good idea at the moment,” Silver said.
Silver also spoke about the 2015-16 schedule and concussions.
He said the league hopes to limit back-to-back games next season in an effort to reduce player injuries and defended the way it handles concussions after Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson suffered head injuries in the playoffs.
“Our protocols were followed exactly as mandated in the case of both players,” Silver said. “I’ve had discussions with the players’ union as to whether there are other ways to do it, and my response has been, ‘We’re all ears.’ Right now, we talked to the other leagues. We’ve talked to medical advisers everywhere about the best way to approach this.”
In the wake of the FIFA scandal in soccer, Silver said there was no evidence of similar issues with FIBA, basketball’s world governing body.
“Their financials are audited. They have open board meetings,” he said. “And again, there’s never been a discussion in our sport of any of the sort of taint that we’re seeing right now in FIFA.”
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