"Tanking happens in every sport to varying degrees, because the draft system incentivizes bad teams out of the playoff chase to lose more in order to get good players. A veteran player who could play if the game was important sits and rests instead, and simply putting out an inferior team on the floor can help hopeless teams attain the only thing that can turn them around: elite talent."
"The NBA's tanking problem is far more acute than the other leagues', mainly because it has too many games and so it creates a lot of opportunities for pure cynicism in basketball form to arise."
"Winning when you're already a loser is the worst thing you can do, and by golly, the Memphis Grizzlies understood the mission this past week in one of the most shameless games in NBA history against the also tanking Utah Jazz."
Tanking in the NBA is a major issue, driven by the draft system that encourages losing to gain high draft picks. Teams often rest veteran players and field inferior lineups to improve their chances of acquiring elite talent. The problem is exacerbated by the NBA's lengthy season, which allows for more opportunities for teams to engage in this practice. Despite attempts to address the issue by expanding the playoffs, tanking remains prevalent, as evidenced by recent games between teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz.
Read at Jezebel
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