Brace yourself: the NBA is still wrestling with tanking, and Adam Silver says the problem isn’t getting better.
Inglewood, Calif.—NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged on Saturday that the league hasn’t found a solid solution for sanctioning teams that deliberately lose to improve draft position. The recent $500,000 fine levied against the Utah Jazz for “conduct detrimental to the league” after resting star players in fourth quarters underscores the tension between trying to curb tanking and the incentives that drive it.
Tanking remains a core strategy for struggling franchises, since the NBA draft arms the worst teams with early access to premier young talent. The 2026 draft class is widely regarded as one of the strongest in years, with several top prospects who could dramatically alter a franchise’s fate.
Silver emphasized that the behavior around tanking appears to be escalating. “The league is 80 years old. It’s time to take a fresh look at this and see whether that’s an antiquated approach,” he told reporters at the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers and the site of the All-Star Game.
“We need to consider new thinking here,” he added. “What we’re doing now—what we’re seeing right now—is not working. There’s no question about it.”
With the calculus of losing tied to better draft odds, teams not in playoff contention have sometimes chosen to bottom out as a strategy to rebuild.
In the past, some fans and observers might have accepted loss as a trade-off for future success, but Silver notes that modern analytics show misaligned incentives more clearly than ever.
“Is the behavior worse this year than in recent memory? Yes, that’s my view,” he stated.
Even the teams that lose often aren’t alone in endorsing the tactic. Silver observed that some fans of these franchises actually root for poor on-court performance to improve draft odds, complicating reform efforts.
To deter tanking, the NBA uses a weighted draft system rather than a straight reverse-order pick, which means the worst team isn’t guaranteed the top slot. Still, Silver remains unsure that the absolute worst record corresponds to the greatest need for talent.
“It’s not clear to me that the 30th team is significantly worse than the 22nd team, especially when there’s an incentive to lose for a better pick,” he said. “It’s a bit of a conundrum.”
Jazz owner Ryan Smith offered a pointed rebuke to the league in a tongue-in-cheek statement: “agree to disagree.” He also noted a paradox in the Jazz’s case, pointing out that one losing-game accusation came after Utah won another game against Miami, which earned a fine—an irony Smith highlighted with sarcasm.
The tanking debate has seasoned pundits weighing in. Colin Cowherd, a prominent talk-show host with strong opinions, suggested Silver should channel the bold leadership of David Stern and confront the problem head-on—perhaps even yelling at teams that tank. Cowherd argued that tanking has persisted for decades, though he conceded it was less common in Stern’s era.
As the conversation continues, readers are invited to weigh in: Do current penalties and the weighted draft system do enough to deter tanking, or is a fundamental redesign of incentives needed? What would you change to align teams’ incentives with genuine competitive effort?
