Why the Hack-a-Shaq Strategy on Dwight Howard Is Embarrassing for the NBA

Last night against the Golden State Warriors, Dwight Howard practiced his free throws—to the tune of 39 attempts, the most in the history of the game. This is, frankly, an embarrassing strategy for the Golden State Warriors and for the NBA. 

This is horrible for several reasons. 

First, Dwight Howard might have improved his offensive game over the last couple of seasons, but he's still a very long way from being Shaquille O'Neal. He's not going to dominate you in the post. He's not going to consistently beat double-teams. 

Second, the Magic don't exactly have the arsenal apart from Howard to make opponents pay for double-teaming. 

Third, it's not like it really changes anything on the scoreboard. Howard made 21 of those 39 free throws. If they just guard him conventionally and don't foul him, that means he has to hit on .538 of his field goals. So based on his field-goal percentage from the game, he would have gotten about 22 points out of those opportunities if they'd merely just guarded him and only had the one "and one" foul. 

Furthermore, that's just the Howard calls. Apart from that, the Magic were 15-16 from the stripe. How many of those came because the Magic were actually in the bonus? 

Beyond that, the Warriors are slowing the game down, taking away their own transition game and essentially removing their own bigs from any scoring on the offensive end. Andris Biedrins scored only two points last night, seven below his average. 

In other words, the single point the hack-a-Howard strategy saved them was more than lost on the offensive end because of it. It's a net-loss move.

Apart from that, it makes the game unwatchable and that's why the NBA needs to do something about this. They should have done it years ago with Shaquille O'Neal and they need to do it now. It just is too hard to watch. It's affecting the product. 

Steve Kerr suggested during the game changing the rule so after the second deliberate "hack-a-blank," the ball goes back to the offense after the free throw. That would make the play untenable, and make the game easier on the eyes. 

It's not a bad idea, but there would need to be some clarification on what would be an intentional foul. I'd hate to see a playoff series decided by a call like that. At the same time, I don't tune in to watch Dwight Howard practice free throws. It's an interesting suggestion.