Tanking in the NBA has been an ongoing problem with teams out of playoff contention often dropping games intentionally to improve their chances in the Draft lottery. While most teams start tanking at the end of the season, the trend has started earlier this season.
NBA take against intentional tanking
In reply, the league has started sorting down on suspected tanking. On Thursday, NBA insider Shams Charania claimed that the NBA had fined the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers amid concerns over intentionally facing defeat.
"The NBA has fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 related to the management of their rosters for recent games," Charania wrote.
The Jazz were slapped with a big fine after repeating the offense a couple of times this month.
The first incident came when they rested Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. against the Orlando Magic on Saturday, and it escalated in their next clash against the Heat, where they rested their starters for the entire fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the Pacers were also penalized for sitting Pascal Siakam in their February 3 game against the Utah Jazz, a detail Charania later reiterated in a follow-up post on X (formerly Twitter).
"On Feb. 7 and 9, the Jazz removed Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. before the beginning of the fourth quarter and did not return them to the game," Charania wrote. "The Pacers were fined for violating the player participation policy for holding out Pascal Siakam and two other starters Feb. 3."
Fresh off roster shake-ups at the trade deadline and the gap widening between lottery teams and playoff hopefuls, the lower-placed teams seem focused on getting healthy and positioning for draft talent, leading to early-season tanking.