David Stern Wants To Get Rid Of ‘Hack-A-Howard’ Strategy

The Hack-a-Howard strategy paid off for the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets recently with these two teams sending Dwight Howard to the free-throw in the fourth quarter in to order the superstar center to hit shots from the charity stripe in order to beat them.

As a result of Howard’s poor free-throw shooting, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered consecutive losses against the Magic and Rockets while leaving quite a few points that could’ve ultimately been the difference between winning and losing at the line.

The impact of the Hack-a-Howard strategy has been costly for the Lakers as of late with it not only sending their worst free-throw shooter to the line constantly in the fourth quarter but it also throwing the team off in terms of rhythm. As a result, the entertainment factor goes down considerably as well as the Lakers’ chances of pulling out wins in close games.

—- Show off your team pride with your own Lakers Nation t-shirt! —-

With NBA commissioner David Stern fresh off of slapping the San Antonio Spurs with a $250,000 fine for rest star players against the Miami Heat recently, the longtime commissioner has chimed in about the strategy that has impacted the Lakers and the product on the floor by saying the following via Henry Abbott of ESPN’s TrueHoop:

“I would have liked to have seen the rule changed to make the last-two-minute rule the whole rule,” he said. “It was getting to a point last year where, [in the] first period, they were just grabbing players. I think that’s ludicrous.”

Obviously, Stern isn’t a fan of the strategy teams are using against the Lakers late in games and believes rules should be put in place to prevent it from happening.

Although Stern would like to prevent Hack-a-Howard strategies, it seems doubtful that it will happen before he officially retires. With that being said, Howard will simply need to improve from the line or he’ll continue to be criticized and a big liability for the team in close games for the rest of the season.

You May Also Like

Lakers Summer League Recap: L.A. Falls To Jazz In Another Close Game

The Los Angeles Lakers have been disappointing in Summer League this year,…

Lakers News: Alex Caruso ‘Loved’ Opportunities As Starting Point Guard

Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso is heading into free agency, where he will be a coveted player on the market after…

Game Recap: Lakers Season Comes To An End With A Victory Over Spurs

[new_royalslider id=”277″] First Quarter The Lakers began the game strong and took…

Lakers News: Nick Young Looking Forward To D’Angelo Russell’s Return To L.A.

Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young is looking forward to D’Angelo Russell making his return to L.A. Friday night…