Adam Silver Warns Teams About Tanking, Says NBA Will Closely Monitor Their Play
NBA commissioner Adam Silver sent a memo to teams last week stating the league is going to "monitor closely the play of all teams during the remainder of the season" to ensure there's no blatant tanking.
On Wednesday, Sam Amick of USA Today provided details of the letter, which discussed the importance of every organization trying to win each game:
"The integrity of the competition on the playing court is the cornerstone of our league. It is our pact with the fans and with each other, the fundamental reason we exist as a preeminent sporting organization, the very product that we sell. With everything else changing around us, it is the one thing in our league that can never change. We must do everything in our power to protect the actual and perceived integrity of the game."
Silver sent the memo after Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made public comments about tanking, for which he received a $600,000 fine from the NBA.
Cuban appeared on the House Call with Dr. J podcast with Hall of Fame forward Julius Erving and admitted he had a conversation with Mavs players about the franchise's best route to future success, per ESPN.com:
"I'm probably not supposed to say this, but, like, I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night, and here we are, you know, we weren't competing for the playoffs. I was like, 'Look, losing is our best option.' Adam would hate hearing that, but I at least sat down and I explained it to them. And I explained what our plans were going to be this summer, that we're not going to tank again. This was, like, a year-and-a-half tanking, and that was too brutal for me. But being transparent, I think that's the key to being kind of a players owner and having stability."
It marked the second straight year Cuban openly discussed the team's desire to lose games in order to improve its odds in the draft lottery. He did so on the Dan Patrick Show last May:
Silver explained in the memo a rebuilding effort is a "legitimate strategy to construct a successful team within the confines of league rules," but outright tanking has "no place in our game," per Amick.
"If we ever received evidence that players or coaches were attempting to lose or otherwise taking steps to cause any game to result otherwise than on its competitive merits, that conduct would be met with the swiftest and harshest response possible from the league office," Silver wrote.
The bottom five teams in the standings—the Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns—have combined to lose their last 35 games in what seems like an intense race to the bottom.
