“Tanking” has become one of the big storylines of the 2014-15 NBA season, as a handful of teams near the bottom of the standings continue to roll out ridiculously pitiful rosters. Namely the Sixers, who are 2-23. But if you ask NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, he doesn’t think anyone is tanking. “I absolutely don’t think any team is trying to lose,” Silver told ESPN. The full quotes:
NBA commissioner Adam Silver says the perception of tanking in the league is greater than the reality of it.
“I absolutely don’t think any team is trying to lose,” Silver said in an interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz for “Outside the Lines.”
“No player is going out there to lose. In terms of management, I think there’s an absolute legitimate rebuilding process that goes on. It’s so hard to win in this league, and it’s so complex.
“I think what’s happened in the case of Philadelphia — their strategy has been reduced into a tweet. This notion ‘be bad to be good.’ … When it gets reduced into a headline, I understand the reaction.”
The Sixers (2-23) own the worst record in the NBA and have been considered the team most blatantly tanking in the league.
