The NBA’s tanking crisis — and why Adam Silver can’t ignore it
It’s no longer a whisper; the NBA has a blatant and embarrassing tanking problem.
The Utah Jazz ended the third quarter on Monday, February 9 against the Miami Heat with a three-point lead. They had dominated Miami in the paint on both ends. Their size was the main reason.
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Forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Utah’s prized addition just a week earlier, had 22 points in 25 minutes. Forward Lauri Markkanen added 17 in 24:38. Veteran center Jusuf Nurkić was a problem all night with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Yet with a win in sight, Jazz coach Will Hardy took self-sabotage and shameless tanking to a new level, sitting the trio for the entire fourth quarter.
In a play of karmic justice, Miami was so poor down the stretch that the Jazz somehow overcame a five-point deficit to ultimately win, 115-111.
This was the second consecutive match in which Hardy had done the stunt. Even worse: It looks like this will be Utah’s standard operating procedure going forward.
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After the match, a reporter asked Hardy how close he was to replacing Jackson or Markkanen.
“I wasn’t,” Hardy replied, clearly and without elaboration.
This is an existential problem that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the Board of Governors must resolve. Yes, the draft is expected to include at least three elite-level players, but if the NBA doesn’t act promptly, the anticompetitive behavior will spread to other teams trying to manipulate the results.
Now it’s out in the open and that will end up staining the final quarter of the season. The product will be affected. And the fans, as they should, will flee. As such, the NBA is compromised.
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And with the explosive growth of online sports gambling and betting markets, these actions only cause further cracks in the integrity and competitive balance of the sport.
The NBA’s player attendance policy is designed to foil tanks by mandating that teams play their stars on a regular basis. But the Jazz have found an alternative solution to the rule. Their impact: Players start games, they just don’t finish them. And so they make fun of politics.
“We have to find a way to win against teams that, I guess you could say, are trying to lose,” Heat center Bam Adebayo told reporters after the game.
Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy watches from the sideline as his team plays against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on Feb. 9, 2026.
Frankly, although Hardy will never admit it publicly, the directive to tank almost certainly comes from his bosses.
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Utah’s 2026 first-round pick is top-eight protected, meaning if the lottery places its selection anywhere from Nos. 1 to 8, the pick remains with the team. If he drops to No. 9 or lower, that pick will be passed on to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And while it makes total economic sense (the luck of drafting a franchise-altering player instantly increases the value by millions), flagrant tanking debases the sport and insults the fan who invests their time and capital.
Utah (17-37) is not alone. The Washington Wizards (14-38) traded for a pair of veterans, Anthony Davis and Trae Young, who have 14 combined All-Star appearances. They were curious winning moves for a team that is currently second to last in the East.
Davis and Young were both injured when they were acquired, and it’s unclear when they’ll return, if they do at all.
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A recent NBA TV report indicated that Davis was not expected to return for the remainder of the season with left hand and groin injuries.
Young has been dealing with a sprained knee. The timeline for both is hazy, at best.
Wizards general manager Will Dawkins recently responded to the report and said Davis would return to Dallas to finish his rehab and would be re-evaluated during the NBA All-Star break.
Davis’ original timeline for a return was four to six weeks; Dawkins, however, brings it closer to 10.
The Wizards, similar to Utah, have also gone through young rosters, particularly when facing some of the NBA’s weakest teams.
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And also like Utah, Washington’s 2026 first-round pick is protected in the top eight.
The Indiana Pacers (13-40) traded for Ivica Zubac, who was away from the Clippers, his former team, for the birth of his first child. Zubac had played in the previous nine games before the trade. However, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Zubac’s debut with Indiana would be delayed due to a sprained ankle that had not been listed in previous injury reports.
Indiana’s 2026 first-round pick? If you guessed it was protected, you would be right, for numbers 1-4 and 10-30.
The young Brooklyn Nets (15-37) gave up on Cam Thomas because they couldn’t find a trade partner. They too appear to be in tank mode.
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The Milwaukee Bucks (21-30) could convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to take some time off from his calf strain to preserve their draft position.
The same goes for the Dallas Mavericks (19-33) with Kyrie Irving and the rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament.
The Sacramento Kings (12-43) are simply directionless.
Tanking looks like it will get worse. And while the temptation might be to say this is a harmless maneuver, the downside is that it impacts the seeding of teams that actually compete and compete for a playoff spot.
In some ways, the timing of the All-Star break is convenient; provides a reprieve for Silver and league executives to brainstorm ways to eradicate this problem from the league.
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If they don’t come out strong with precise and targeted measures, then why play the game? And, if you’re a fan, why watch?
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The NBA’s tanking crisis is the biggest test Adam Silver has ever faced