When it comes to tanking, there's a new sheriff in town; NBA's Silver sends a message by fining the Pacers and Jazz
I know Pacers fans are angry, but it WAS time to do something about an approach that was messing with the integrity of the game.
When we last met on these digital streets, I was making the point that the Pacers needed to be a little bit more subtle in their tanking efforts. At the time, I thought they’d be fine sitting all their starters in the second game of a back-to-back against Utah; after all, tanking teams have been toying with their lineups in an effort to earn ping pong balls for time immemorial, and notably throughout this unique season.
Little did I know, at the time, that NBA commissioner Adam Silver had decided, finally, to hold tanking teams’ feet to the fire and fine the Jazz $500,000 and the Pacers $100,000 for giving less than their best effort to win basketball games.
Look, the things the Jazz and Pacers were doing in recent weeks definitely deserved a slap on the wrist. The Jazz benched all their top players in the fourth quarter of a tight game. The Pacers benched all their top-line guys in a winnable game against the same Jazz.
Is it ironic the Pacers, of all teams, got popped with a penalty? Absolutely. Throughout their history, the Pacers have studiously resisted the temptation to tank, even when tanking was in their best interest. How often have the Pacers been a middling team because they insisted on putting their best foot forward even in lost seasons? Owner Herb Simon doesn’t often talk to the media, but when he’s done so in the past, he’s made it abundantly clear he will not sit idly while his team tanks.
But this is a very different kind of season. This is a season with three, four stud prospects waiting at the top of the draft and is viewed as a generally strong draft throughout. The Pacers then put more pressure on themselves to tank (lose creatively) after having acquired Ivica Zubac in exchange for Benn Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson and two first round draft choices – including one in 2026 that is protected spots 1-4, conveys to the Clippers 5-9 and then goes to the Pacers 10 and beyond. That creates an enormous amount of pressure for the Pacers to go back to their early-season struggling ways, which is going to be a challenge given the fact they’re 9-9 in their last 18 and slowly getting healthy late in this season. This is going to be a tightrope walk for Rick Carlisle and his staff, how to massage the roster in such a way that it doesn’t draw the ire of the league.
The commissioner has been loath to penalize tanking teams in the past, but he’s decided the time to start is now. Why? Silver answered that at the All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
