Adam Silver Says NBA Will 'Fix' Tanking Issues, Board of Govs. to Vote on Draft Lottery Rule Changes

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is taking another step to try to eliminate tanking from the league.

Silver told reporters on Wednesday that a special Board of Governors meeting will be called in May to vote on reforms to the NBA draft lottery that will go into effect for the 2026-27 season and before this summer's upcoming draft and free agency.

"We are going to fix it… full stop," Silver told reporters.

Silver added that it was "unanimous" among owners at the NBA Board of Governors meeting that the league needs to change tanking rules and do it before the draft this June, prompting his call for a special session in May.

This is hardly the first time that the league has attempted to adjust its rules to curb tanking, but there's no doubt that it remains a major problem. As the 2025-26 season winds down, the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings all have fewer than 20 wins.

Silver admitted last month that he hasn't been pleased with the overall product being shown by some teams around the league.

"Are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we've seen in recent memory? Yes, is my view," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last month, adding that the league is "going to be looking more closely at the totality of all the circumstances this season in terms of teams' behavior, and very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice."

The Pacers and the Utah Jazz were fined earlier this season for behavior that violated the league's player participation policy. Still, multiple teams have not been shy about positioning themselves to land a lottery pick in what is expected to be an impressive 2026 draft class.

It will be interesting to see what solution Silver and the team governors come up with in a few months, but it's hard to imagine what will finally put an end to the tanking issues that have dwindled the league's quality over the last few years.