Tanking and the broken NBA draft system
TANKING - One of the most disrespectful things that teams in the NBA and other American sports leagues do to their loyal fans. This is beyond disrespectful and directly insulting to the most loyal fans, the season ticket holders. As a Clipper fan, I know this feeling too well. However, it is difficult to stay upset at a team as one understands that the goal of losing games on purpose is to increase one’s chances to obtain the coveted #1 draft pick of the new incoming class of NBA players the next year around. In other words, teams don’t want to disrespect their fans; they are simply positioning themselves as best as they can according to the rules in place.
The rules in place are wrong. There is a strong, sound logic behind the current system in which the worse a team’s record is, the higher are the chances of that team obtaining a higher pick in the draft. The logic here is that teams that need the most help will have a higher chance of getting that help. I am not against this logic. I’m against the “tanking” that naturally emerges from the rules in place that reflect this logic.
For example, the Timberwolves in the 2010-11 season lost their last 15 games to achieve a league worst record of 17 wins and 65 losses. The Kings in the 08-09 season lost 9 of their last ten games (they won their last game after their position at the bottom of the league was secured). As a fan, I have even found myself angry at my team winning at the end of the season when it was obvious they would not make the playoffs, and if you can’t make the playoffs, might as well get a higher draft pick. There’s something wrong with the system when you’re rooting against your own team.
While ultimately how much we can do to fix this problem is limited, there are improvements that can be made to the system. There is a simple improvement; create a rule which mandates that: THE TEAM WITH THE WORST RECORD WILL BE INELIGIBLE TO OBTAIN THE FIRST DRAFT PICK.
What this will do:
- While it will not completely eliminate tanking, it will definitely curtail the extreme, despicable, disrespectful tanking we have all become accustomed from the likes of bottom feeding teams like the Clippers, Kings, Wizards, etc…
- It will actually create a level of excitement for those worse teams in the league. It will give them something to play for. At least, I would be very interested in watching the New Orleans Hornets (currently 4-17) and the Charlotte Bobcats (currently 3-18) at the end of the season fighting to not be last. Think about what this would do to ticket sales, Mr. Stern! Imagine: Bobcats vs. Hornets in May 2012 duking it out as if it was a playoff game! I’d watch that.
- It maintains a system of proportional chances to improve to the teams that need the most help without completely rewarding teams that aren’t necessarily horrible, but just don’t want to win.
People will argue the system is fine as it stands, and that in most cases, the team with the worst record won’t obtain the first pick (because being last only improves your chances without any guarantee). This is true, but it is not reflected in the behavior of these teams that are out of the playoffs, especially the teams at the very bottom.
Think about where we stand in today’s NBA. The NBA owned Hornets have the worst record. They have decided to bench Chris Kaman, an imperfect, but skillfull big man until he gets traded. This helps the Hornets tank games. People! We are only 1/3 of the season in and we’re already seeing tanking. The NBA fans of New Orleans deserve much better than this.
This rule is not radical. In fact, it is subtle. As a point of comparison, think about how soccer leagues around the world punish their worst teams by sending them down to their B-leagues where they have to fight their way back up to the top national league. This rule would only state that the worst team would not get the first pick (they would still be the most likely to get the 2nd pick, and do fairly well – Michael Jordan was picked 3rd, Durant -2nd, so it’s not like we’re dooming anybody). While we’re comparing, I’ll leave you with what it really looks like to be the worst team in Argentina. Long time, legendary, classical team of River Plate (comparable to the Celtics or Lakers) was the worst team in Argentina last year and was bumped to the B-league. This is how one fan took it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OU1mW0Ty_Y
See? Wouldn’t it be great to have something to cheer for at the end of the season? Imagine how happy that guy would have been if River Plate had won. What makes more sense? To root for or against your own team at the end of the season as you would at the beginning? The answer is pretty clear.
-Julio
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