Shaquille O’Neal, in his prime on the Los Angeles Lakers, was a truly unstoppable force. In the three consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2002, the franchise won three championships, and O’Neal claimed the Finals MVP in all of them.
The league had no answer to Shaquille O’Neal‘s dominance, so they resorted to fouling him as much as they could to get him to shoot free throws. This Hack-A-Shaq strategy didn’t sit too well with the big man. But when he complained to NBA Commissioner David Stern about it, his answer changes Shaq’s perspective.
“The thing I loved about David Stern was that he was real So, we go into his office one day because I’m at the end and I’m letting him know ‘Mr. Stern, next time someone Hack-a-Shaqs me, I don’t mind taking 15, 20 games,’” O’Neal said on ESPN.
“And he says, ‘Son if we call every foul that was committed on you, the game would last four hours.’ And I thought about it like, you right. And he said, ‘Shaq, you’re over here complaining about fouling? I’ve got 28 teams complaining about you.’ And I’m all about the game. I don’t want to shoot 100 free throws anyway. I don’t… And then I said to myself, ‘Okay, I’m not getting the calls. So if I can withstand that and play through that, I’ll be unstoppable.'”
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And this is exactly what Shaquille O’Neal became, unstoppable. Between 2000 and 2002, O’Neal averaged 28.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game in the regular season. His numbers went up in the playoffs, averaging 30 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. Teams had no idea what to even do when O’Neal got himself going.
The Hack-A-Shaq Strategy Had Gotten Out Of Hand At One Point
Between 1998 and 2002, Shaquille O’Neal averaged 12.2 free throws per game in the playoffs. He made more than six, so he was over 50%, but the percentage was still pretty bad. It didn’t stop him from getting his points and dominating, but it’s easy to understand why the big man was frustrated with it.
The worst of it was in the 1998-99 season when Shaq went to the line an average of 15 times a game in the playoffs. But once he got over it, the next three seasons were all wins for O’Neal and the Lakers, with many awards and trophies coming their way. We will never truly know how much David Stern influenced the league and its stars, but he helped so many greats achieve their potential.
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