INGLEWOOD, CA — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took a forceful stand against tanking in his NBA All-Star Weekend press conference, talking at length about the hot-button topic that's "been part of this league for a long time."
Earlier this week, the league fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and Indiana Pacers $100,000 for violations of its player participation policy and conduct detrimental to the league. They aren't the only teams openly tanking, though, ahead of a 2026 draft that's thought to be one of the strongest in recent years.
Silver's response at the Intuit Dome on Saturday was just as blatant.
"Are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory? Yes, is my view," he said. "Which was what led to those fines, and not just those fines but to my statement that we’re going to be looking more closely at the totality of all the circumstances this season in terms of teams’ behavior, and very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice."
In addition to more fines, Silver was asked if he would consider stripping draft picks from teams that continue to tank.
