Finish line in sight, I flipped on the Mavericks and Bulls the other night, both teams battling for play-in positions.
Wow. Great game.
Two nights later, I tried the Kings and Pacers. Same stakes.
Again, wonderful theater.
So now I am ready to make a profound statement:
Why is tanking such a bad thing?
Watching the Mavericks without Luka and the Bulls without … well, basically everybody was a little like watching Ferris State play Slippery Rock in football.
Entertaining, but at a Division II level. Trust me, you don’t want Ohio State.
Should the Mavs and/or Bulls survive the play-in – the Silver carrot the commissioner wants them to fight their darndest to corral – they would be nothing more than sweep fodder for one of the vastly superior top seeds in the playoffs.
Frankly, Dallas did itself a disservice even trying to win the Chicago game. The Mavs would be far better off taking a full-court heave at the next Doncic – or in this case, even better – in the draft lottery.
Same with the Kings, except that they were smart enough to come up short against the Pacers. They are trying to win and are still losing, which tells you how imperative it is for them to land a generational superstar in the draft.
There isn’t always one out there, but there is this year. So goals must be adjusted.
Commish Silver says tanking is bad for his sport. He assumes everyone agrees.
I don’t. In fact, YOU don’t … or at least a majority of you.
At some point in the standings, most fans would prefer to see their team lose to increase their chances in the lottery. Especially when Cooper Flagg is the prize.
Maybe I’d draw that line a little higher than others. But if I were wishing the best for the Heat and Bulls – two teams currently in play-in position in the East – or the Mavericks and Kings – their mirror images in the West – I’d pay the scorekeeper to slip an extra point or two to the opponent … say about every five minutes.
Note I didn’t mention the Suns. These guys might look like they’re tanking, but they have no incentive to do so.
They don’t own their 2025 first-round pick. The Bulls and Mavericks have theirs, while the Heat will keep theirs if it’s in the lottery, the same for the Kings if they land in the top 12 of the draft.
Tanking at the expense of a playoff spot sounds – pardon the term – ludicrous. But these four teams are no better off than the nine at the bottom of the standings who are already backstroking as fast as they can.
They might make the playoffs, but like the Wizards, Hornets, Jazz and their fellow lightweights, they have zero chance of winning a single game against the Cavaliers, Celtics, Thunder, Nuggets or Lakers.
Ten years from now, when these teams won’t have to tank to be in the lottery, they’ll be asking themselves: Was it really smart to bust our butt to make the playoffs in 2025, when all that did was get us embarrassed by the Cavaliers? Or Thunder? Or whoever?
Ask the Hawks and Timberwolves. They celebrated play-in success in 2023, only to win a combined three of 11 games in the playoffs and throw away a shot at Victor Wembanyama.
Think their fans would like to light the lamp to challenge that call?
And here’s the thing about tanking …
OK, it’s clear the tactic can be a positive for many teams, and a vast majority of their fans would be in favor.
But what about the opponent? You know, the one that’s getting the boat-race win.
I don’t hear any complaining from them.
First off, they’re getting a much-needed win in their quest to better position themselves for the big tournament.
Secondly, they get to rest their top players, which sure beats Silver’s other big concern – unexcused absences. Even Kawhi Leonard could do a back-to-back if the opener was a glorified scrimmage.
And lastly, do you really think these fans are walking out of the arena saying: “What a waste of money. I came here to see Cam Johnson walk all over Jayson Tatum again.”
So bottom line: The tanker and its fans like it, and the tankee and its fans like it.
Other than rivals who already had their shot at these weaklings, so stick a sock in it, the only people who could possibly not like tanking are the television executives, who, of course, are Silver’s targeted audience when he stages a State of the NBA address and rails on his disease of the day.
But that’s another thing about tanking: If you rightfully applaud the forward-thinking concept, then it becomes more predictable. And therein lies the solution:
Televise a different game.
Here’s hoping a seriously flawed No. 10 seed goes ultra-rogue and tanks its play-in game, then defies the odds and wins the Flagg sweepstakes.
Give that guy Executive of the Year on the spot.
Silver would go nuts, threaten to void the lottery and hope incensed fans would revolt in support of their hero. Not bloody likely.
He’d have a better chance landing an expansion team in Greenland.
