Adam Silver: NBA has to focus on tanking

[jjscap]

Deputy commissioner and soon-to-be real commissioner Adam Silver is being asked about the (tanking) issue.




"I don't think it works, because culture is critical. And I don't think you can build a winning tradition with an undercurrent that 'it's better to be bad.' I've never seen it be successful. It makes me nervous that it has to be asked, so I recognize it's something the league has to focus on."

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball- ... --nba.html

Looks like Silver may actually do something about teams intentionally losing games. I certainly hope so!

[Heat fan06]

Really hope he does.

[turtlesnjoi]

What's this nerd going to do about it? Force teams to make moves? I do think teams benching star players with fake injuries should be punished though. Get some integrity losers.

[SaveTheHens]

What's this nerd going to do about it? Force teams to make moves? I do think teams benching star players with fake injuries should be punished though. Get some integrity losers.

Could just make it less rewarding to be the worst, take out the motivation to tank.

[EddieJonesFan]

I'm failing to see the harm this has actually caused the league, it seems people are just increasingly whining about it because it offends their precious sensibilities.

Tanking is a reality of the draft being weighted to help the bad teams, so either change that and accept those consequences of that instead, or shut up about it and accept it's an inevitable consequence of the way the system is set up. There are no rewards for being middle of the pack.

[Paradise]

I'm failing to see the harm this has actually caused the league, it seems people are just increasingly whining about it because it offends their precious sensibilities.

Tanking is a reality of the draft being weighted to help the bad teams, so either change that and accept those consequences of that instead, or shut up about it and accept it's an inevitable consequence of the way the system is set up. There are no rewards for being middle of the pack.

Well, it impacts ticket sales, ratings, losses that big market teams usually cover, lack of profitiablity, etc.

There should be stiffer penalties on teams like the 2011 Bobcats or 2013 Sixers.

There is too much of a habit on that. Being in the middle is what 29 teams do yearly honestly. There isn't a championship for being runner up. 1 wins, everyone else tries.

I just don't buy into the " be a contender or tank it" logic. It should only apply to certain teams, not all situations like how it's become.

[Winsome Gerbil]

What's this nerd going to do about it? Force teams to make moves? I do think teams benching star players with fake injuries should be punished though. Get some integrity losers.

Could just make it less rewarding to be the worst, take out the motivation to tank.

The problem is you can't take out the motivation to tank. The motivation to tank is basically a law of the NBA jungle. You can shift the motivation around, but not remove it. Give more teams a better chance at Wiggins, then maybe the worst 3 or 4 teams have less motive to tank, but all of a sudden the 7-9 teams can see the profit in it. If you give the bottom 10 teams all an equal 10% chance at that #1 pick, then the #11 and #12 teams see the advantage of tanking down to become #10. The only way you could get rid of it would be to make it completely random, all 30 teams with an equal chance. And that's just a horrible system and incredible overreaction that would leave the Bobcats of the world potentially perpetually out in the cold.

About the only way to try to counter the instinct would be to just give all the lottery teams an equal chance. But then that just moves the tanking cliff right up to the edge of the playoffs, and you are all of a sudden messing with the integrity of the playoff system where a team staring down a 3-0 dismissal by Miami might rather bow out and go chase Wiggins. Better to keep a system where you isolate the phenomenon to the bottom 5-7 teams then to start messing with the playoffs.

[Winsome Gerbil]

I just don't buy into the " be a contender or tank it" logic. It should only apply to certain teams, not all situations like how it's become.

And yet this is the same board that blatantly champions the "championships are the ONLY thing that matters" mentality.

If you wanted to try to counter that mentality, although I doubt it would shut this board up, you could try to dramatically up the playoff $$ payout to teams. Basically bribe owners to try to chase that #8 seed even though its a blatantly stupid way of trying to build a contender.

[RealRapsFan]

I'm failing to see the harm this has actually caused the league, it seems people are just increasingly whining about it because it offends their precious sensibilities.

Tanking is a reality of the draft being weighted to help the bad teams, so either change that and accept those consequences of that instead, or shut up about it and accept it's an inevitable consequence of the way the system is set up. There are no rewards for being middle of the pack.

Well, it impacts ticket sales, ratings, losses that big market teams usually cover, lack of profitiablity, etc.

There should be stiffer penalties on teams like the 2011 Bobcats or 2013 Sixers.

There is too much of a habit on that. Being in the middle is what 29 teams do yearly honestly. There isn't a championship for being runner up. 1 wins, everyone else tries.

I just don't buy into the " be a contender or tank it" logic. It should only apply to certain teams, not all situations like how it's become.

Why not stiffer penalties on the Lakers, Nets, Knicks and Mavericks of the league who drive up middling player prices making it less affordable for softer markets?

Or stiffer penalties on the Melos, Dwights, and Pauls of the league who give their teams what is essentially ultimatums to trade them to teams of their choosing, or risk losing them for nothing which would force teams to inevitably lose anyways?

Or how about the league actually steps back, looks at the economics of player movement, the adverse effects max salaries and poor profit sharing are having on the 'have not' markets while benifitting the 'have' markets, creating the disparity in talent (and greater disparity in wealth) and therefore the need to tank.

The draft isn't what is causing tanking. The unfair distribution of wealth and the inevitable movement of labour towards those who have the, and can offer greater, wealth is what is causing teams to tank. The league has, through their ever tightening CBAs, offered owners greater rewards at lower risks. However not all owners have benifited the same - the LAs, NYs, Miamis, Houston/Dallas' of the league have just been able to take a bigger peice of the talent pie at a risk and cost thats much smaller than it ever was. Convient that David Stern has at many times in the past talked about the importance and benifit to the league of having great players in the major markets? I think not.....

If the Charlottes and Phillies of the league ever truelly want to compete at the top they have what boils down to 2 choices. Tank and try to get top talent at the top of the draft. Not tank and try to get top talent in the middle of the draft. Seems pretty logical, given history, where those teams will have their best opportunity to find it.

The other option is to sit on their thumbs and hope lightning falls right into that empty bottle they are holding.

If the league goes about and actually changes the CBA so those 'have not' markets can both keep and afford to keep that better talent that they draft or acquire, there will be no or atleast little need to tank. Unfortunately the executives of the league, its more influential owners and really the media itself has little desire for this. They want that top talent in the major markets - thats whats best for them.

The draft is fine. The safety net it offers, so bad teams can become good again in the future, is ideal. Its the CBA thats the real problem.

[No Offense]

What's this nerd going to do about it? Force teams to make moves? I do think teams benching star players with fake injuries should be punished though. Get some integrity losers.

Could just make it less rewarding to be the worst, take out the motivation to tank.

This is nonsense. The worst team has a 75% chance of not winning the lottery.

[Q C]

don't see what the big deal of tanking is. how else is a team like Charlotte/Toronto/Sacramento supposed to get good players if not in the draft? The payroll system as a way of creating balance is stupid when you've got LeBron James making 20 mil and Rudy Gay making 18 mil. You're paying 90% of LeBron James salary to get a player with 15% of LeBron James impact.

you let some teams have ridiculously stupid stacked rosters (that are actually wasting a lot of their talent due to diminishing returns...see Heat not being all that much better than LeBrons horrible Cav teammate teams) then blame the teams that are crappy for being the only problem here. its crazy.

[Trader_Joe]

There are way to discourage tanking, but you are never going to be able to defeat the reason for doing it, unless the lottery system is changed and the CBA continually altered to make it harder for drafted players to leave their team.

The one thing I can think of though, is there is some sort of monetary kick back to lotto teams, where each win is worth a certain amount of dollars returned to the team by the league. So then owners and GM's have a choice.. better odds, or more money.

[Brauer]

He should... next year.

[Ugly0598]

The only way to discourage it more is make teams 1-14 who missed out on the playoffs at the same odd/lottery %, but then you'd have a team not want to make the playoffs. That would be the only issue.

[GeorgeDillion]

I agree with Silver culture is critical, teams that's not even trying to win shouldn't be rewarded. I can't believe the suggestion that a team like the Mavericks or Nets should receive stiffer penalties for driving up middling player prices. It's nonsense both of theses teams had losing cultures until they got new ownership that decided to do something mind-boggling, spend money to create a winning culture.

Sure there will be bad teams in the league but doing what the 76ers did this off season should be frowned upon honestly. This tanking culture is getting out of hand, take the Cavs for instance they have drafted in the past 3 years:

2011 Draft
Irving #1 first round
Thompson #4 first round

2012
Waiters #4 first round
Zeller #17 first round

2013
Bennett #1 first round

And a majority of their fans still want them to tank, then when Irving wants to leave in free agency they will decided to complain about it. Why should he want to stay, allowing the Cavs to waste multiple years of his career tanking?

It's ridiculous and at some point teams need to be penalized either it will have to be monetarily or by limiting bad teams ability to keep restricted free agents. The fans that accept tanking really need to stop looking at the league and it's players like it's NBA 2K. You just can't waste years of someone's career being bad and press the start button and go forward to the next season.

These wasted years are players lives and would you want to work for a company for years with the promise of advancement but never any returns? No one would and I wouldn't expect it out of anyone else no matter how much money they make.

[Neutral 123]

Oh God, not the foolishness again. Unfortunately, the league will address this 'problem' if the media makes enough of a stink about it, regardless of it making no sense to address a system that is just fine.

[EntropyPR]

Just like flopping was addressed so perfectly.

[Chuck Newhouse]

There is a huge difference between rebuilding a program by adjusting your roster over a specific time frame that includes X number of drafts and deliberately losing specific games. One is part of the way running a franchise works and the other is so wrong at so many levels.

[djsunyc]

simple...no team can draft a top 5 pick two years in a row...

[eliasrapp98]

Really hope he does.

Of course a heat fan would say that...