I think it's still excessive. They did it in full view of everyone so I suspect Dallas thought it was acceptable. I think something along the lines of a warning plus a small fine (or at worst a 2nd round pick) is sufficient to make it clear to the rest of the league that it's inappropriate.
No it's excessive and I hate the Mavs and think refs kiss Luka's butt. The Mavs are not the only team tanking. Teams do it every single year. They are just the only team saying the silent parts out loud. Unless the league starts investigating, handing down fines and penalties across the board CONSITENTLY? Nothing is going to change.
I'm not convinced the Lakers beat the wolves at all.
Why isn't it acceptable?
Sure for other series maybe - he's not really that important against the Lakers.
It's not unacceptable to me, just to the league. Tanking is a difficult issue. Each franchise needs the ability to do what's in their best interest in the short team and in the long term. And sometimes that means taking action that leads to losses. But the league has to maintain the appearance of competitive integrity in addition to satisying the needs of the networks that are paying billions for the NBA product.
That wolves team is too stupid to win a big game in LA, IMO.
No they didn’t. They came in playing like a bat out of hell, smoking the entire league the last 60% of the season.
You are allowed to actively tank, just not so obviously tank. This team purposefully missed the playoffs.
The Lakers suck. I don't think much of the wolves either, but LA gets 10,000% more credit than they deserve.
I don't understand why this is a problem, when they and everyone else knows their chances of winning the lottery are better than their chances of winning the title.
Well, they did acquire him. And it makes sense to protect him. There was nothing to be gained and everything to lose by playing in these last two games. I was concerned about the team meshing together, and Durant being rusty, but look at it. When he came back, he fit in seamlessly. The team seems to play together fine. The benefit just does not seem to outweigh the risk. The biggest danger to this team post-season is not chemistry, its injury. So protect against your biggest risk.
They’re 11-2 in their last 13 games and just rocked the Wolves in Minnesota last week in a game both teams desperately needed.
Not even sure what this means. Tanking is not allowed. That is what drove the last NBA rule changes. They lowered the odds of the #1 pick (it used to be 25% for the worst team), gave the commissioner discretion to fine NBA teams in hopes of making less incentive to tank their games. The rules define tanking as "when teams lose on purpose to get a better draft position."
I can remember teams tanking to increase lottery odds. I can NEVER recall a team tanking to avoid the playoffs. Never. May have happened, but seems like a giant outlier and REALLY spits in the face of the concept of competition.
I don’t think those teams sat healthy players. I think they just stunk. There’s a palpable difference.
Exactly.
