This week, the NBA, through action, said it hates tanking, too.
Or did it?
Tired of witnessing loss after loss after soul-crushing loss, the Philadelphia 76ers, according to numerous reports, were made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver to take on an executive that can lend some credibility — and sanity — to the situation. The team named Jerry Colangelo as the team’s chairman of basketball operations. He will be a very powerful and persuasive consultant to embattled general manager Sam Hinkie.
Silver denied strong-arming the 76ers into making the move in an interview on Sirius/XM NBA Radio. Even if the NBA didn’t hold Philly’s feet to the fire, at the very least the team’s principal owner, Josh Harris, signed off on it. He had to, in adding another executive to his organization.
That is interesting, because he also originally signed off on the plan to lose now to win later.
But who are we kidding? The NBA generally signs off on the practice leaguewide. It’s why a proposal to reform the NBA draft lottery, to reduce the incentive to lose-to-win, was voted down by league owners in October.
Because, you know, some of them may need to tank in the future.
And therein lies the mixed message. Tanking, bad. Wait. Tanking, not so bad.
Philadelphia’s ongoing losing — three seasons and counting — does seem to suggest there is a shelf life to things. Philadelphia’s fans, who continue to pay ticket prices commensurate with a product worth cost, soured on all of this long ago — the Sixers have one of the lowest attendance totals in the NBA.
So maybe this is the message of the past three months: Tank, but only do it for so long.
Because even when you know going into the season that the team is in rebuilding mode, even when you know there will be more losing than winning, the losing still stings. Some Nuggets fans are already restless with the process. Yes, playoff talk was tabled. Yes, development of young players was emphasized. But man, must the losses pile up to get there?
Yet, while so many profess to hate tanking so much, the teams that don’t try to lose in order to win are ridiculed for a plan that repeatedly lands them at the end of the lottery or, worse, out of it altogether. The dreaded draft limbo. And few teams can steadily improve when they never have a top-five pick to nab the talent that can take them to the next level.
So they lose.
Couple that with many examples where losing has helped. Minnesota is one. Orlando has put together a nice stable of young talent. Milwaukee, too. LeBron James walked out of high school and four years later had Cleveland in the NBA Finals.
Executives — whose jobs are tied to the talent they acquire and then to what that talent does on the court — aren’t blind to that.
Still, the mixed messages have to stop. It’s good public relations to bash tanking. But the actions are speaking louder than any of the words, similar to all of the teeth-gnashing over one-and-done college players only to watch execs trip over themselves to draft the next college freshman projected to be a star.
Even if there is intervention, as with Philadelphia, it is only because the losing became too much to bear. It wasn’t a true referendum on tanking.
We’re still a ways away from that.
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@ or @dempseypost
Spotlight on …
Kevin Durant, F, Oklahoma City
When: Kevin Durant is synonymous with greatness, and The Denver Post’s NBA player of the week was vintage Durant last week.
What’s up: Durant stuffed the stat book with averages of 24.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals in four games. He shot 58.6 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from the 3-point line and 91 percent from the free-throw line. The Thunder won all four games.
Background: When he isn’t scolding the media, Durant is busy doing what he’s always done — scoring in bunches and leading Oklahoma City to victories. The former Texas star posted three double-doubles last week and made his 1,000th career 3-pointer. Durant’s best game was 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists at Memphis, where he shot 78.6 percent from the field. He basically torched the Grizzlies, who usually are a solid team defensively.
Dempsey’s take: Durant’s demeanor has always been top notch. When his relationship with teammate Russell Westbrook became a hot topic again, he just shrugged it off and went about his business. He’s had to adjust to a new system under new Thunder coach Billy Donovan, and there have been some bumps in the road, but when games are on the line there’s arguably no one better than Durant to close them out — and do it in style.
