The NBA rules are pretty straight forward.  And the refs force teams to play within the rules – however sometimes, teams find interesting ways to skirt around the rules.

It was on this day, May 20th, 2000, that the Hack a Shaq defense went into effect. During the 4th quarter of an NBA playoff game, the Portland Trailblazers fouled Shaq on purpose every time down the court for the final 6 minutes of the day. The strategy sent Shaq to the line 25 times in the last 6 minutes.

Unfortunately for the Blazers, it didn’t work.  Shaq made 12 of the 25 free throws, and the Lakers went on to defeat the Trailblazers in game 1 of the Western Conference finals. The final score was 109 – 94, and Shaq finished with 31 points.