J.Ross: What Do You Do When Both Teams Think It’s Best to Lose?
Feb 28, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:24 am
(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
If you have read any of my other posts before about what everyone infers to as “tanking” then you know that I hate the premise. I don’t like the phrase, I don’t like the topic and for me it is too easy a go to when a team loses. I also not that naive to think that some organizations feel it would be of their teams best interest to actually lose games late in the season to increase their chances in the lottery.
I have mentioned many times that this isn’t a full proof plan but it is a way of life. So what happens when you have a real dilemma with multiple teams that are in the bottom of the NBA actually play one another. Tonight in the NBA you have two teams that have combined to lose 20 games in a row hooking up in Memphis. The Grizzlies entertain the Phoenix Suns as both teams have lost 10 consecutive games. The Suns trot out a young lineup, while the Grizzlies have gone most of the season without Mike Conley and lately they have played without Tyreke Evans. Both teams aren’t very good but someone has to win right?
The Sacramento Kings will be in this position a lot soon. They still have home games coming up against the Magic, Hawks, Mavericks, and they go to Phoenix and Memphis still too. How do you approach that? I believe when you are in competition you do your best to win. I think the players and the coaches genuinely do that. There could be instances though when organizations inform coaches that they want certain players to play more. This could help in future development and hinder chances for teams to win as well. This is a tough one to prove but it does appear that this is a thing. The league on Wednesday came out with a stern warning about any perceived tanking. Once again this is really difficult to prove but the league has a perception problem with this. It may not show up all the time but these games against the worst teams will tug at the very fabric of tanking. Tread lightly teams and hope that you get yourselves out of this mess soon.
