LOS ANGELES (AFP) – NBA commissioner Adam Silver has warned that teams will face harsh punishment for deliberately losing amid a reported “tanking epidemic” in the league’s lower echelons, it was reported Wednesday.
USA Today reported that Silver had sent a memo to the league’s 30 clubs on February 21 warning them that any side suspected of throwing games would receive the “harshest response possible.”
Teams at the foot of the NBA are often suspected of tanking in order to improve their chances of being given a favourable pick in the following season’s draft.
This season has seen an unusually large number of teams fall under suspicion. The last nine teams in the league have won three and lost 25 since the All-Star weekend.
The “tanking epidemic” comes in the last year before the NBA reforms its rules over how draft picks are allocated. It also coincides with a 2018 draft class which is expected to feature several potential elite talents.
Under the current system, the team with the worst record in the NBA has a 25 percent chance of landing the top pick in the draft lottery. Changes to the rules which take effect in 2019 will mean that those odds fall to 14 percent.