It’s often time to become an NBA superstar in the league. It is associated with scores at the elite level by the majority of fans.
Things like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have created a great fanbase over their careers.
One of the things that really separates elite scorers from the rest is how unaffected they are by their opponent’s defensive strategies. Even if it’s at its biggest stage, it’s the NBA Finals.
That being said, let’s take a look at the NBA legend who scored 40 points in the final game despite missing 21 free throws.
When Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal was at the height of his career, there was little the team could do to stop him.
After all, Shaq was a 7’1 monster, and the 1999-2000 season was undoubtedly the peak of his career. Despite being an incredible scorer, O’Neill had one weakness in his game: a free throw.
For example, O’Neal shot just 52.7% from the free throw line in 1,207 games in his career. With that in mind, the opponent came up with a strategy called “Hack-A-Shaq.”
The defensive strategy was to send O’Neals to the free throw line as much as possible during the game. Well, that’s what the Indiana Pacers did in Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals.
O’Neal attempted a game-high 39 free throw, missing 21 of which. But did it slow the diesel? Certainly not.
Shaq finished the game with 40 points and helped the Lakers register for a 111-104 victory as the Lakers led the Pacer 2-0. The only thing that did for the Pacers was that two players would foul out and the others would stack up a number of fouls.
Former Pacers star Mark Jackson praised Kobe for carrying the La Lakers to the 2000 NBA Championship, but O’Neill’s contribution cannot be overlooked.
In the six-game series, Shaq averaged unrealistic 38.0 points, 16.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He also scored the most points (707) and rebounds (355) in the 2000 playoffs.
Obviously, O’Neill won the NBA Finals MVP to close out a near-perfect season with the Lakers.
If you’re wondering, O’Neal won the NBA Championship, NBA Finals MVP, League MVP, Scoring Championship and All-Star Game MVP in 2000.
He averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per 3.8 games, leading the Lakers to a 67-win season.