to intentionally foul Shaquille O'Neil near the basket, sending him to the free throw line where he will probably miss one or more free throws
At this stage in the fourth quarter, New York has enough fouls to give and may begin to employ the Hack-A-Shaq
by joe November 6, 2004
In the NBA, a strategy teams use against NBA player Shaquille O'Neal when they're losing late in the game by putting him at the free throw line, where he is notoriously known as a poor free throw shooter, in the hopes that he misses one or two so they can get back in the game. Another variation is the "Hack-A-Ben", or using the same strategy as described above for Pistons center Ben Wallace, who is also known as a very poor free throw shooter.
by BKelly May 28, 2006
A tactic used to intentionally foul Shaquille O'Neal (or another player with a poor free throw shooting percentage, such as Ben Wallace) before the last 2 minutes of a basketball game. This strategy slows down the pace of the game, and is not what basketball was intended to be played like. This tactic is useless with less than 2 minutes, because the team that was fouled can then choose which player goes to the free throw line.
How come the Spurs beat the Suns again in the playoffs? Because Popovich decided to use hack a shaq.
by pacsmanjones May 27, 2008