Adam Silver on hack-a-player rules: My inclination is not to change it

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been open for change since he took over that role from David Stern in 2014. For Silver, it's been all about moving the NBA into the future.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that changes to the Association's "hack-a-player" rules are going to be made any time soon.

Speaking to ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike" Tuesday morning — just hours before the NBA season is set to kick off — Silver had an ominous warning for those annoyed by teams hacking poor free throw shooters late in games:

"I'm not going to say we're never going to change it, but we'll look at it closely," Silver said. "We had a long discussion about with the competition committee this summer and the decision was to leave it and let's continue to track it ... My inclination is not to change it, but we'll continue to watch it."

This coaching philosophy, which dates back to the days of Shaquille O'Neal, was implemented on a mainstream basis during the playoffs.

From Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan early in the postseason to Golden State Warriors big man Andrew Bogut in the NBA Finals, teams caused somewhat of a raucous by utilizing a strategy that seemed to impact the overall product we saw on the court.

In terms of a coaching strategy, it makes a ton of sense. Instead of giving the other team's top players a chance to bury you when down by a couple field goals, why not put a bad free throw shooter on the charity stripe?

That's not the issue. Instead, some teams went to an extreme during the playoffs — making for an almost unwatchable product. In one game against the Houston Rockets last year, Jordan attempted a ridiculous 34 free throws.

"It's bad, I get it, from an aesthetic standpoint, from an entertainment standpoint, for fans," Silver said. "On the other hand, I hear from literally thousands of coaches — not just from the United States but from around the world — saying, "You cannot change this rule. What lesson does that send? The kids who are learning the game, this is a fundamental part of the game: A guy's got to be able to make free throws."

Now, that makes a ton of sense. None of this would be an issue if players could actually hit free throws on a consistent basis. Whether it's a lack of practice or effort, that seems to be a bigger issue around the NBA today. Multiple times through the years we have seen players improve their percentages from the charity stripe by actually practicing.

In a sport that a small percentage of humans can play at a high level, shooting free throws doesn't necessarily take a tremendous amount of skill. As Silver said, this is a fundamental part of the game.

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