One of the NBA’s biggest ongoing issues is blatant tanking. An 82-game season is already a grind, but some teams make it even more frustrating for fans and players by seemingly not trying to win at all.
In the Jazz’s last two games, Jaren Jackson Jr., Lauri Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkić, and the injured Keyonte George did not play a single minute in the fourth quarter. The result? A blown 17-point lead in a loss to the Magic, followed by a surprising four-point win over the Miami Heat. After that defeat, Heat star Bam Adebayo voiced his frustration, saying, “We’ve got to find a way to win even against teams that are, I guess you could say, trying to lose.” It’s no secret to the players of opposing teams that the Jazz do not want to win.
The driving force behind the Jazz, and several other teams leaning into tanking this aggressively, is the belief that this upcoming draft class could be generational. It features once-in-a-lifetime prospects such as AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson, players widely viewed as potential franchise changing talents.
Per DraftKings odds, the Jazz never truly had a chance this season, opening at +100,000 to win the Finals and now sitting +400,000.
Although the NBA adjusted draft lottery odds in 2017 to discourage tanking, it’s clear that more action may be needed. Measures such as removing draft picks for repeated competitive integrity issues could help restore pride and quality to the game, two things that feel increasingly compromised when teams prioritize losing over competing.
