On this day, 24 years prior, Shaquille O’Neal broke the Playoff and NBA Finals free-throw records. The Big Aristotle was awarded a jaw-dropping 39 free throws on the night, the most in franchise history. O’Neal was unstoppable during the early 2000s, and Shaq recently posted his free-throw record to Instagram, reminding everyone of his dominant past.
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The Lakers opened their three-peat era dominantly, as Shaq and Kobe made quick work of the Western Conference en route to meeting the Pacers in the Finals. In the Finals, Shaq single-handedly took over, averaging 38.0 points, 16.7 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks over six games. While the statistics paint a picture of O’Neal’s dominance, they don’t quite capture the sheer power O’Neal had on the court. Shaq was so dominant in the paint that the Pacers had to dish out 17 fouls to keep the Lakers, mostly Shaq, from scoring in Game 2 of the 2000 Finals.
The remainder of the series would pretty much follow in line with Game 2, as the Pacers fell to the Lakers in 6 games.
Looking back, Game 2 was the best representation of Shaq’s sheer dominance in the paint, as Shaq shot 39 free throws in the 48 minutes of play. A record that still stands to this day. O’Neal recently even posted the record to his Instagram.
Shaq reminisces about his record 39 free throws in the 2000 NBA Playoffs pic.twitter.com/piT3HgtbKM
— Ballerz Worldwide (@ballaznba) June 10, 2024
In the end, the mismatch was too great, even after employing the Hack-A-Shaq technique.
O’Neal’s difficulty with free throws got him fouled a bunch
Shaquille O’Neal joined the Lakers in 1996, the same year the team drafted a pesky teenager out of High School who would turn out to be O’Neal’s running mate in their upcoming three-peat era. While Bryant developed into his NBA frame, Shaq handled most of the scoring and rebounding duties for the Lakers. And by the time the 2000s rolled around, the one-two punch of the Lakers proved too much for a post-Jordan league.
The league countered the Lakers by bringing down its backbone. While Shaq was undoubtedly great in the paint, his free-throw shooting was far from perfect. Teams kept fouling O’Neal, sending him to the line on every occasion he tried scoring. The tactic banged up O’Neal, slowed him down, and made him do what he was worst at.
Even after shooting 58.2% from the line, Shaq remained dominant even after the Hack-A-Shaq tactic was enforced. For example, in the 12 Finals games O’Neal played with the Lakers, he averaged averaged 35.9 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Unfortunately, locker room drama and trade demands led to O’Neal leaving the Lakers after just 8 seasons with the team, ending their reign of terror over the league.
