Kevin Durant wants guys to make free throws to stop the hacking. (USATSI)
Kevin Durant wants guys to make free throws to stop the hacking. (USATSI)

Run up to a big man, who struggles with his free throws and doesn't have the ball, tickle him or play a game of Tag, and then watch him go to the free throw line for an adventure in psychological warfare. This is the hack-a strategy being employed by NBA teams to exploit the free throw struggles of big men like Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond, and DeAndre Jordan. It's almost a dare to the opposing team to sub their big man out of the game or suffer the boredom of trips to the free throw line in amazing succession.

It's something some fans and pundits want to do away with because it ruins the flow of the game and isn't actually a basketball play when the person without the ball in their hands is having to do this. But if you ask Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevn Durant about the strategy, he has some advice for those who are targets: "Work on your f---ing free throws."

What's most confusing about the rule is how inconsistent it is with the final two minutes of a basketball game. If you were to employ this strategy then, the team with the hacked player would get to pick their own free throw shooter, have them shoot a free throw, and then retain possession of the ball. For some reason, this rule hasn't been implemented for the entire basketball game. Instead, we get games like the playoff struggle between the Clippers and Rockets last season when we saw 70-plus free throw attempts from both teams.

Durant, a career 88 percent free throw shooter, isn't having any of that. He wants the struggling players to become good free throw shooters. I think this misses the point of the discussion. If those players like Drummond and Howard get the ball and get fouled, then they still have to shoot free throws in this situation. But when they're getting tapped on the shoulder 80 feet away from the hoop to have the foul called, how is that basketball?