Shaquille O’Neal’s dominance in the NBA is the stuff of legends. The potent combination of physical strength, size, and agility made it almost impossible for defenders to guard him, especially inside the paint. Seems like the referees faced similar problems as well. Officiating the big fella was no easy task.
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Former NBA star Jermaine O’Neal (who is not related to Shaq despite their last names being the same) mentioned this on All the Smoke. Speaking to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, O’Neal said,
“He [Shaq] just changed the game bruh, and many times. The league didn’t know how to officiate Shaq. He was that agile, I don’t know if we’ll ever see a specimen of a player like that again.”
The 46-year-old speaks from experience. His Pacers had the tough task to contain Shaq during the 2000 NBA Finals. The Lakers won that series 4-2.
Shaq won his first Finals MVP, averaging 38 points, 16.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in the series. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Jermaine was awe-struck recalling Shaq’s dominance in the NBA.
Pistons great Isiah Thomas shared this clip to his Instagram stories, backing Jermaine’s claim on how clueless the league was with Shaq.
Isiah Thomas shares Jermaine O'Neal's thoughts about Shaq pic.twitter.com/K2vVcvbkh6
— What are (W)NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) October 13, 2024
The referees were at a loss whether to call fouls on Shaq regularly. The big man’s dominance prompted players to constantly rough him up. But every hit couldn’t be called because it would simply make the game a dull affair.
The refs weren’t the only ones left helpless with Shaq’s game. Many teams had to rethink their roster construction in order to curb O’Neal.
However, opposition defenders didn’t always mind foul calls on them when guarding Shaq.
Hack-a-Shaq and other innovative defensive coverages
Don Nelson, Dallas Mavericks’ HC invented the strategy in 1997 but had experimented with the idea much before, attempting to use it to stop Dennis Rodman. The idea was simple: intentionally foul the opposing players selectively, provided that the fouled players have poor free-throw shooting percentages.
For all of O’Neal’s talents, he was a horrific free-throw shooter. He averaged a measly 52.7% from the foul line.
Despite the best coaches in the world helping him, Shaq was never able to improve his percentage. This allowed opposing teams a chance to stop him. The term Hack-a-Shaq was coined, based on Nelson’s idea, and teams started implementing it whenever they faced the big man.
This is just one of the many instances how Shaq’s dominance prompted the league to change. Other instances included stronger rims, more big men on the teams’ rosters, more bodies inside the paint, etc.
