Adam Silver Is Trying His Best To Ignore Tanking

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reiterated his beliefs on tanking in an interview with Outside the Lines, namely, that tanking does not exist. Here are Silver's words, via ESPN:

"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," Silver continued. "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."

On one hand, Silver makes a fair observation. The 76ers players may not be actively trying to lose while on the court, but it's obvious the whole roster has been constructed for failure. Yes, the team is rebuilding, as Silver terms it, but Philadelphia is doing so by exploiting the NBA's system which encourages years of losing to land a championship piece.

It's not a legitimate process. The more Silver calls it as such, the more we should worry that the NBA will cling to its current system as opposed to finding a more creative solution — one that won't invite teams to flip a giant middle finger to their fans in the hopes of winning the lottery.

Silver is hailed as the progressive commissioner, especially in comparison to the departed David Stern, but he's still lagging behind on fixing arguably the league's most serious issue. Admitting, as they say, is the first step.

[ ESPN]

Photo via AP