Shaquille O’Neal had some fairly legendary moments during his career. But perhaps none more notable than the time he was fouled intentionally by Coach Gregg Popovich just 5 seconds into a game. As Shaq rewatched the video all these years later, he revealed his true feelings on the hack-a-Shaq strategy.
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O’Neal and the rest of the NBA on TNT crew were paying their respects to Pop after it was announced he’ll now solely be the San Antonio Spurs team president, stepping down as the head coach. The announcement came as a shock to the system. Shaq was recounting how challenging it was to play against the coaching legend and how disciplined his teams were.
Then O’Neal was shown a flashback to the Suns vs Spurs opening tip-off game from 2008, where he was fouled just 5 seconds into the game. It was a hilarious moment that he couldn’t help but smile over when rewatching the clip.
“Whoever utilizes the Hack-a-Shaq is a clown,” O’Neal joked.
Shaq was obviously joking and meant this in a lighthearted way, as he has tremendous respect for Pop. One of the funniest parts of the clip is when Pop holds his two thumbs up towards O’Neal and shoots him a smile from the bench. It may be hard to believe, but the stoic head coach also had jokes of his own.
In case you didn’t know, the Hack-a-Shaq strategy was the Spurs and coach Pop’s solution to guarding O’Neal during the playoffs. The idea was that you’d foul him before the team got into their offensive set. It forced Shaq to shoot free throws, which he struggled with. During his career, O’Neal shot 52.7% from the line. So, the idea was to play the percentages in the hopes that it would lower Shaq’s teams’ total offensive output.
However, O’Neal hated that the act was coined after his name. In fact, he once claimed that it should be renamed because he didn’t think the strategy even worked against him.
“It didn’t work with me, so you can’t say that,” O’Neal argued. “I don’t want to hear my name anymore. Whoever is getting fouled, ‘Hack-a-whoever.’”
While Shaq is adamant that the strategy never worked against him, he couldn’t be more wrong. In a Game 5 against the Spurs in 2005, Pop sent O’Neal to the line 20 times. He missed 11 free throws en route to a loss.
But perhaps the biggest outcome of the hack-a-Shaq strategy wasn’t the missed free throws. It was the normalization of a player like O’Neal and his physical aggression that led to a lack of fouls. Over time, referees simply accepted that Shaq was stronger and more physical than any other player in the NBA, and he wasn’t rewarded with more free throws because of it.
So, as much as it perturbs O’Neal, the Hack-a-Shaq is rightfully named after him. He should embrace it rather than be ashamed of the title. It shows that he was so dominant that he forced other teams to employ insane strategies just to deal with his size.
