There are several significant matchups scheduled for Thursday (AEDT) in the NBA.
The Atlanta Hawks are heading to Detroit to face a Pistons team that is intent on securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference while the Hawks are riding a wave of momentum. The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Boston Celtics in a contest that brings together the two most recent champions. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets will clash with the Minnesota Timberwolves in a game that could play a crucial role in Western Conference seeding.
In another fixture, the Washington Wizards will visit the Utah Jazz. One team is enduring a painful 16-game losing streak, while the other may benefit greatly from finishing in fifth place or lower this season.
The ongoing issue of tanking is back on the agenda this week at the board of governors’ meeting in New York. The NBA has made adjustments to the draft system over the years, and it seems that a more significant overhaul is in the pipeline. While these changes are unlikely to be finalised this week, they are forthcoming.
“Are we observing behaviour that is more concerning this year than in recent memory? Yes, that’s my perspective,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver remarked last month, adding that the league aims to scrutinise teams’ conduct more closely this season and has made it clear that teams should be mindful of their actions.
Silver is set to address the media on Thursday, with expansion plans expected to be the standout topic, as league governors prepare to vote on a proposal to move closer to introducing franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Getty
However, once the excitement surrounding expansion subsides, the conversation around tanking will undoubtedly resurface.
This season has seen three instances of 16-game losing streaks in the NBA. Currently, Washington is undergoing such a streak, while Indiana — a team that reached the NBA Finals last season but anticipated this to be a rebuilding year after star player Tyrese Haliburton sustained an Achilles injury in Game 7 of that series — snapped its losing stretch with a dramatic last-second victory against Orlando on Tuesday. Sacramento also endured a 0-16 run in a spell of January and February.
“We need to start winning, man. We must keep building as a team,” remarked Indiana forward Pascal Siakam during a televised interview following their comeback win in Orlando. “It’s been a challenging year for us. This tests your character, but that’s just life.”
Tanking has been a topic of discussion throughout the season. Brooklyn’s owner, Joe Tsai, stated back in the fall that the Nets — who secured five first-round picks in last year’s draft — are in the midst of a rebuilding phase, mentioning that they possess only one first-round pick this year.
“We’re hopeful to secure a good pick,” Tsai mentioned at the All-In Summit. “So, it’s obvious what sort of strategy we will employ this season.”
As of Tuesday, the Nets had a record of 17-55, the third-worst in the league. According to the current lottery system, this would grant Brooklyn a 14 per cent chance — the highest odds available — of winning the No. 1 overall pick.
Last month, the Utah Jazz were fined $500,000 for not fielding their strongest players during the fourth quarters of games, one of which they actually won against Miami. The Wizards’ ongoing 16-game losing streak is their fourth such occurrence in just over two years, a run of sheer futility previously matched only once in NBA history. Interestingly, in three other cases since the 2023-24 season where Washington lost 16 consecutive games, they triumphed in their 17th game.
The Wizards and the Jazz have both endured lengthy losing streaks this year. Getty
A finish in the bottom five of the league standings would guarantee Utah a 99.4 per cent chance of landing a top-eight draft pick; otherwise, the selection would go to Oklahoma City.
In the wake of the $500,000 fine, Jazz owner Ryan Smith took to social media to express his disagreement, stating in part, “we can agree to disagree … Also, we won the game in Miami and were fined? That makes sense.”
The phrase ‘agree to disagree’ could well serve as the motto surrounding tanking. The reality persists, whether people approve or not.
What everyone seems to agree on is that it’s detrimental.
Some teams are out of the playoff contention and are pivoting towards their future, which is reasonable. Although Milwaukee is still mathematically in the race, they need several miracles to qualify for the play-in tournament, and their star player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has faced injury challenges all season. It seems rational for the Bucks to avoid risking further harm to him. Alternatively, Antetokounmpo may wish to continue playing. The National Basketball Players Association announced on Tuesday that it intends to collaborate with the league on “meaningful new proposals that will directly tackle and discourage tanking.”
The exact origins of the practice of tanking — attempting to lose to better one’s draft odds and secure a chance at the best players — are hard to pinpoint. It dates back to at least 1982 when an owner openly suggested that finishing at the bottom might be beneficial.
This owner was Donald Sterling, who owned the then-San Diego Clippers and was quickly fined $10,000 for his comments, which were caught on tape. Sterling was later expelled from the league in 2014 after racist remarks came to light.
The player Sterling sought in 1982 was Ralph Sampson, a superstar centre from Virginia. However, Sampson chose to stay in college for another season, partly because the date for declaring for the draft came before the coin toss that would determine whether the Clippers or the Los Angeles Lakers would get the No. 1 pick. Sampson was reluctant to risk his future with the Clippers, who ended up losing the coin toss anyway.
Tanking didn’t yield success back then. It doesn’t guarantee success now. Yet, over four decades later, here we stand, amid the same conversation.
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