NBA Desperate to Fix Tanking Problem
One of the biggest problems the NBA has had to deal with in recent years has been the art of the tank. Tanking, the process of an organization intentionally trying to lose in order to secure better draft picks and improve their team for the future, is a problem that the NBA has been trying to fix for many years. But no matter what they seem to do, there always seems to be a few teams adopting the mindset of losing and playing for the draft.
This is a clear problem for the league as having teams that are clearly trying to lose makes for a poor viewing experience. The average fan surely won’t watch their games and you’re even driving away the most dedicated fans. What fan wants to watch their team when it’s clear they are not trying to win?
Attempts have been made to discourage tanking. In 2019, the lottery system was changed to where no team had more than a 14 percent chance of getting the top pick. Prior to this, the worst team had a 25 percent chance to land the top pick, the second worst had 19.9 percent chance and third worst had a 15.6 percent chance. And while in theory, this seemed like a good idea, it didn’t really do much to discourage teams from tanking.
Now, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league are discussing potentially adopting a new system that would change the entire construction of the league.
This system would see the two worst teams demoted to the G league, with the top two G League teams taking their place. And while this system would be very entertaining for fans and would surely reduce tanking, the logistics of it don’t quite make sense and Silver himself acknowledged this.
“It would so disrupt our business model,” Silver said. “And even if you took two teams up from the G League, they wouldn’t be equipped to compete in the NBA.”
Quote via The Score
So, while I’m sure some NBA fans would love to see this implemented, from a business standpoint, it just clearly doesn’t make much sense. G League teams are a step below the NBA for a reason and it’s obvious they would have no real shot against even the worst level of NBA talent.
Both fans and league executives clearly want to get rid of tanking, but this drastic measure doesn’t quite seem to be the most logical way to do it — especially from a business standpoint. If there is one thing the NBA puts above anything else, it’s the art of making the most amount of money possible.
It’ll be interesting to see what the league does to further discourage tanking, especially this year when many teams are clearly going to be tanking for superstar prospect, Victor Wembanyama, who might be the greatest prospect to come into the league since LeBron James.
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