I think he has got to be the most incorrectly officiated player in the history of basketball. Granted his size makes it difficult but the amount of body contact he is allowed to get away with is absurd. Sitting here watching this Cavs/Bulls game 5 and he is literally running people over on the block and Chicago got called for 4 fouls back to back. Not a one looked like anything other then an offensive foul, with shaq's typical back you down, run you over style and then lay in a 3 footer.

Garbage NBA officiating as usual.

I was watching that game for about 45 seconds and saw the two most absurd calls against Chicago that I've ever seen in a basketball game.

I think they miss as many hacks on Shaq as they do hacks/charges by Shaq.

Taking away the continuation from the Bulls was total BS as well.

I agree with the OP.

They explained it away for years with the "he's so big you have to officiate him differently than all the other NBA players" line.

What?

Shaq always got hammered by the defender but I never really felt sorry for him. He usually committed travelling twice and one offensive foul on each possession. The smaller guy hacking his forearms helped balance things out.

I'm not mad about it. Shaq has probably been fouled/hacked/hit more than any other player in the history of the league. I've seen it go both ways for him in the course of his career.

Its funny with Shaq, because Yao is bigger and is the opposite.

With Shaq, he gets away with being bigger. With Yao, he gets called worse for being bigger.

Shaq is also a physical player and Yao is a finesse player. A physical player can get away with more than a finesse player. But a physical player will also take more punishment before a foul is called compared to a finesse player.

While you are techinally right, Yao gets called for stuff simply for being bigger than other people.

I cant tell you how many times a PG has run into Yao while shooting and gotten a foul, all the while, Yao has been still with his hands in the air.

It doesn't help Yao's case that he isn't exactly graceful and seems to get tangled up in his moves quite a bit.

And Shaq is?

Shaq is a power player. And a lot less awkward than Yao.

That still has nothing to do with the fact that Yao gets called for fouls when he is standing still. I dont care what kind of player you are, your opponents shouldnt get the benefit of the doubt simply because they are too small and weak to avoid falling down after running past you.

That's not what happens, but whatever helps you sleep at night Maz.

That is what happens. And I sleep fine DAMMIT!

You sleep fine because you tell yourself that about Yao getting abused.

When Shaq played for Orlando, I saw how physical he was and no one made calls against him.

When he played for the Lakers, I saw all the "hack-a-Shaq" tactics that were disgusting and muddied up the game. The refs wouldn't make calls against the other teams, but if he even turned around and accidentally bumped into someone, he got a foul, sometimes a tech.

And coincidentally enough, when he left the Lakers, the refs started letting him get away with murder again!

Its so unfair!!!

I disagree. Shaq committed, and got away with, more offensive fouls as a laker than any player I have ever seen in ~25 years of heavily watching basketball.

MassAggie,
That was a sarcastic post showing how people view players based on their bias. I was definitely not serious.