badinage wrote:But Jesus: telling the entire world that you’re going to lose, as they essentially have, and that you don’t care to compete, as they also essentially have — and not for one season, but likely for several seasons — is … something. At a minimum, it’s contrary to the spirit of sport; a violation of the basic fact of sports.
Again, is it permitted? Sure. Does the league sort of encourage it even? Oh, it does, it does. Does it behoove a team in the Wizards’s position to do it? Abso-fxcking-lutely.
But the fact that we’re doing it — that it’s shrewd to do it — just shows how wack the system is, and makes me question why I spend any time at all on all of this, when what I want most from a game that I use to escape from the world is not to be reminded that the world is broken and flawed and nonsensical.
It's not that they're trying to lose. The players and coaches are trying their hardest to win every game. It's that the organization is placing a higher priority on player development than short term wins. You watch the games because you want to see Deni, Bilal and Kispert get better. The occasional win is just gravy.