“Tanking” is a team’s intent to deliberately play poorly. Despite being rare, controversies regarding professional sports teams “tanking” have risen over that past few months. One of the most frequently accused leagues is the National Basketball Association (NBA).
All aspects of “tanking” go against an athlete’s competitive instinct. It is human nature to want to win, and this is only amplified in professional athletes. However, in the NBA there always seems to be a fight to come in last.
Why would a team ever intentionally try to lose? The answer can be summed up in two words: lottery draft. The lottery draft, established in 1985, gives teams players’ rights in the league. Whoever has the worst record from the year before has the best chances at getting the number one draft pick.
Certain struggling teams aim for the worst record in the hopes of acquiring the next superstar, and they’re not totally wrong. Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, and Derrick Rose are all players who were the number one overall draft choices.
According to Draft Express, the average No. 1 pick has career averages of 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Also, forty-three of the 66 picks (65.2 percent) to go No. 1 have made an All-Star Game. The numbers don’t lie; obtaining the number one draft pick can turn a struggling franchise into a successful one.
Unlike the NFL, NBA coaches have a longer leash and are given a couple years to rebuild a losing team. Sometimes the players and coaches simply can’t win from a lack of talent. In these cases, the pressure to win falls mostly on the shoulders of the general manager.
The general manager’s job is to acquire players that will give the team the best opportunity to win. Every decision by the general manager is scrutinized throughout the season, and often they become the scapegoat for frustrated fans. Considering that the average general manager gets fired after only four years, there is a lot of pressure on them to win, and win fast.
Most coaches and players play to win. It goes against their ethics and morals to purposely throw a game. The scandal of tanking revolves mainly around the general manager’s decisions to put a team on the court that cannot compete. In their eyes, it is far better to be awful for one year than consistently bad for a long duration.
Although other sports are also accused of “tanking,” the NBA is most heavily criticized. Unlike other sports, the NBA is a star-oriented league. Tuning into the game, the announcers constantly say, “Lebron James and the Cavs” or “Steph Curry and the Warriors.” NBA teams revolve around the star players that the general managers are always searching for.
Furthermore, basketball is the type of game where one player can significantly determine the results. There are only five players on the court, and star players can average up to 40 minutes a game.
In the NHL, there are 20 players on the team and star players, such as Patrick Kane, only average nineteen minutes a game.
Some teams are even accused of having a yard sale and trading all the high paid players in order to make room for the messiah. According to Basketball RealGM, the average first round draft pick makes 4.5 million dollars a year.
Even college basketball has been influenced by the NBA draft. In the 1980’s and 1990’s most players stayed more than one year to develop their game. Now, there is a new crop of freshmen every year with plans to enter the draft when the long season ends, in hopes of being a first rounder.
There is no proof of “tanking” in the NBA and there never will be. No coach or general manager will ever admit to purposely losing games.
However, there are a lot of advantages to coming in last, and the public may never know what is happening behind the closed office of the general manager.