Amongst all of the talk about the NBA Finals, LeBron James, Steph Curry and Game 1, Commissioner Adam Silver had a press conference to give an update on some important things about the NBA.

One of the topics at hand was the Hack-a-Shaq rule that he was initially hesitant to speak on making changes, but it seems Silver has had a change of heart.

 

I think you all know it is my hope that we are not far away from some reform. This is an issue where I'm hoping we can strike some sort of a compromise.

 

If anything this is a small indication that there has at least been some discussions in the NBA office, or between board members during this season. What's interesting is the data statistical studies have shown about the rule this season, and with as much attention as it has gotten, it doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.

What we've seen even since last year is a two-and-a-half times increase of the number of these off-ball fouls, away-from-the-ball fouls, intentional fouls. Looking back just even at the last five years, it's now up 16 times from five years ago.

 

That number is eye opening and almost too large to ignore. Most fans agree that there should be no reward for a player making millions of dollars and cannot perform a free-throw shot consistently or at a decent level. The other side of the coin is looking at how much it affects the game overall and if there are more negative consequences than positive. One thing is for sure, the rule is abused by some teams.

There was an acknowledgment (in 1978) that it doesn't look good in the last two minutes and it unnecessarily prolongs the game and adds an unattractive element. So now the question is can we take that rule and maybe we don't put it in effect for 48 minutes, but we look at other aspects of the game moving toward a compromise to at least cut it down significantly.

From the sound of things, the league will be looking to make a change this summer and next season we will see a new Hack-a-Shaq rule.

You can read the rest of Commissioner Silver's press conference here.

 

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