Steve Kerr’s blunt 3-word take on tanking

Lately, the NBA has been cracking down on tanking. But there are calls for the NBA to take greater action. Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green has called out the league for not fining teams who tank.

Meanwhile, his head coach, Steve Kerr, is keeping things simple, per Anthony Slater of ESPN. When discussing tanking among coaches and executives, Kerr was candid.

“I hate it,” he said.

Tanking involves intentionally losing games in the short term to draft high and build to win in the long term. However, not everyone is against it.

“These teams are doing the whole gamut: sitting guys in the fourth, playing analytically bad lineups, drawing up plays for bad shots,” one Western Conference general manager said. “The creativity is impressive and I don’t blame them. It’s the best strategy to get better. Look at all the most promising teams in the league: Thunder, Spurs, Pistons, Rockets, Hornets. Years of being bad and building up on high picks. It’s painful but worthwhile.”

However, critics attribute tanking to the disruption of the game’s integrity.

“I get fined when I do wrong,” Green said on Tuesday. “Just fine the hell outta people. They love taking money from players. Keep fining teams. I’ve seen two fines. As players, they snatch that money in a heartbeat. Why isn’t it the same? Everybody love money.”

Currently, the Warriors are 37-42 and have lost six out of their last ten games. They are 10th in the Western Conference and on the cusp of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2023-24 season.