Adam Silver Addresses Tanking At All-Star Press Conference

Tanking was a hot topic at Adam Silver‘s annual All-Star weekend press conference, with the commissioner vowing that “every possible remedy” is being considered to curtail the practice, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

Silver suggested the solution could involve limiting the number of teams that participate in the lottery each year. It currently includes the 14 teams that miss the playoffs, with the three worst records getting the best chance at the top pick and the odds declining with each spot.

“It’s time to take a fresh look at this and to see whether that’s an antiquated way of going about doing it,” Silver said of the lottery.

A strong draft class is providing extra incentive for teams to lose to improve their lottery odds, and Silver agrees that tanking is already worse than it’s been in past seasons. The NBA announced fines against the Jazz and Pacers this week for failing to use star players, but Silver said that’s not how the league wants to police tanking.

“I don’t think that’s the way to manage the system long term,” he said. “… It will lead to very unhealthy relationships between us and our teams.”

The commissioner addressed several other topics during his session with reporters:

• Silver confirmed that expansion will be discussed when the league’s Board of Governors meets next month, but a vote will not take place, Vardon adds. A final decision will be made at some point this year. There will be no consideration of moving a current franchise to either Seattle or Las Vegas, which Silver cited in December as two of the cities the league is eyeing for expansion teams. Silver stated there’s no set number of teams that will be added if the league decides to expand, and that decision will be made after an investigation of the marketplace.
• Silver confirmed that the NBA’s new league in Europe could be ready to begin play by the 2027/28 season, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Progress is being made with banking partners as well as organizations that are viewed as potential league members. He emphasized the popularity of basketball in Europe and stressed that the NBA is prepared for a lengthy commitment. “If you are looking for a short-term return, you should probably look elsewhere,” Silver said. “But we plan to be invested for years to build this base.”
• Silver stated that “no decisions have been made” regarding the Aspiration case involving the Clippers, Smith adds (Twitter link). He noted that the investigation is being conducted by an outside firm and said team officials have been cooperative. The Clippers are hosting All-Star weekend, but Silver said that hasn’t affected the timing of a ruling.