By Brody Goucher Posted April 15, 2015
What is one of the biggest problems facing professional sports right now? Tanking is the practice of losing games on purpose in order to get a high draft pick or to get better playoff seeding.
Basketball is the main sport that is affected by tanking, several teams this year including the 76’ers and the Knicks are believed to be throwing away their seasons in order to get a better chance at the number one pick of next year’s draft. Tanking is ruining the competitiveness of basketball and making it less fun to watch, not to mention it’s making other organizations that are actually trying to win have less of a chance to get a top five-pick in the draft.
There is no definitive way to prove if a team is tanking which is why it would be hard for the NBA to punish the 76’ers or the Knicks, but the fans could step up and stop going to the games or buying their merchandise to send a clear message that purposely losing games is pathetic and NBA teams that do it are cop-outs. The Knicks as an organization are the laughing stock of the NBA. They have the biggest payroll in the NBA and one of the best scorers in the game (Carmelo Anthony,) but yet here they are still a mediocre team that finds themselves tanking because their ownership, coaches, and players have no integrity or sense of competitiveness.
The 76’ers are a different story, I don’t think they are actually tanking; they simply do not have the talent on their roster to play against any good team, but give them credit for actually trying and not taking the easy way out like the Knicks.
Believe it or not, pro sports are not the only sports affected by tanking, the practice is even seeping into high school games. Two Tennessee high schools (Smryna and Riverdale) were thrown out of the playoffs for trying to tank because neither of the teams wanted to play the number one-seeded team, Blackman. Both teams were fined 1,500 dollars and both will be placed on probation next year.
The bad example set by players and coaches in professional leagues is now trickling down into sports everywhere and if firm punishments are not handed out for tanking then it will continue to get worse.
