NBA Commissioner Silver: Hack-a-Shaq Ban not Likely

Adam Silver the NBA Commissioner said that it was unlikely the league would step in to reform some of the issues that were widely discussed like conference imbalance and intentional fouling that have come up during this postseason.

Calls by fans, coaches, players and others to ban the Hack-a-Shaq foul tactic where a team deliberately sends a poor foul shooter of the opponents to the foul line, have become increasingly louder of recent. However, Silver said that executives at the general managers’ meeting in mid May voiced an opposition to changing the rule.

Silver said that stats show that only two teams have been involved with this through the entire playoffs. In fact said Silver over 90% of all the Hack-a-Shaq occurrences involved the Clippers and Rockets and really more than anything else just two players.

Therefore, added Silver, would it be right to make a rule change based upon two players and two teams?

Silver said he has his reservations about the effect aesthetically the Hack-a-Shaq has on the game, adding that it does not have much effect on the overall viewership.

He added that he has concerns that the elimination of the use of Hack-a-Shaq might cause young players not to worry as much about practicing foul shooting.

When it came to discussing seeding the playoff teams in the NBA on overall record regardless of conference, Silver said the concerns over player health and longer traveling distances during the early matchups in the postseason were one deterrence.

While the idea seems very attractive in certain ways, said Silver, because more travel would result, it is not that good of an idea at the present.

He cites that the Boston Celtics would have had to play Golden State during the first round under the seeding scenario. Making each team possibly crisscross the country five times in a three-week span is not good, said Silver.

Silver said the NBA would be making adjustments to the 2015-16 schedule to limit the number of back-to-back games in its effort to lessen the wear and tear on players and the number of overall injuries.

When asked about world basketball, Silver said there has not been any suggestion of any wrongdoing with the international governing body such as the scandal that rocked the world of soccer. He expressed full confidence in FIBA and said the NBA maintained a seat on FIBA’s board of directors.

He said their financials are all audited and they have open boarding meetings.