NBA hacking game, discussion heats up

MIAMI » San Antonio’s first play of the 2008- 09 season was designed and executed perfectly. Spurs’ center Tim Duncan didn’t bother jumping for the opening tap, conceding it to Phoenix’s Shaqui l le O’ Nea l . Five sec - onds later, Michael Finley wrapped his arms around O’Neal for an intentional foul.

O’Neal was livid. That is, until he saw Spurs coach Gregg Popovich breaking into hysterics and giv ing him two thumbs up.

Yes, Hack-a-Shaq used to be a laughing matter. It isn’t anymore.

The increasing strateg y of fouling bad foul shooters on purpose to send them to the line and slow their team’s offense to a crawl has raised the ire of everyone f rom booing fans t o NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The antics will likely be something t he leag ue tries to curb in the coming months.

But no one seems t o know how, and not many seem sure the r ules need chang i ng t o protec t t he free-throw challenged.

“It’s ugly, but I’m going to do it,” Popovich said. “If you don’t want me to do it anymore, learn how to shoot a free throw.”

O’ Neal i s ret i red, but Hack-a-Shaq — or as it can also be called these days, Hack- a - Dw i g ht , Hack- a - Dre, Hack-a-DeAndre and Hack- a-Hassan — is still around in its aesthetically aw f ul glor y. It c an t urn games into free-throw cont est s, many coaches and players openly dislike it and it primarily targets a few who are notoriously bad at the foul line. “I hate it,” Popovich said. “I hate it,” added Miami guard Dwyane Wade.

They’re not alone, though not everyone speaks with such venom.

“In baseball you can walk a player,” Atlanta’s Al Horford said. “There are different things you can to do impact the game. If they want to change it , it ’s their call but it doesn’t bother me.”

If the league was to change things, one option would be to have such fouls carr y the same penalty a flagrant does, two shots and retained possession.

“I think that sets a horrible example for kids, honestly,” Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said. “You can’t protect guys because they can’t shoot free throws. We’re getting paid a lot of money to make a damn f ree throw, dude. I think it sets a bad precedent. “I wouldn’t change it.” And really, only a few guys are worth even tr ying to use the ploy against.

With a 35 percent success rate so far i n 201516 Detroit’s Andre Drummond — an All- Star — is on pace to have the worst free-throw-shooting season in NBA histor y, af ter narrowly avoiding that dubious distinction la st year. And if he’s not careful, the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan could soon rank as the worst foul shooter the league has ever seen.

Houston’s Dwight Howard and Miami’s Hassan Whiteside have also been frequent targets this season — seemingly at any cost.