Tanking: Losing Games to Improve Draft Positions

1493 Words3 Pages

Tanking America spends more money on sports than any other country in the world. No other countries in the world have a bigger National Football Association (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), or National Hockey League (NHL). Not to mention that we as a nation spend more on collegiate, and high school sports. Fans love when their respective team drafts a new superstar, or make a blockbuster trade to bring in talent. However on the down side in recent years fans have also had to deal with lost cause seasons in order to make these trades, or draft these players. In today’s world teams are all about building their team for the future, even if that means losing a few games. While teams focus on the future they don’t take into account how fans feel, or current players. Winning always feels good, as losing always feels bad. Tanking is the name of the “strategy” that has been increasingly noticed in recent years. “The issue of teams' intentionally losing games for the sake of improving their draft position has been around for decades, or ever since Bill Fitch pulled off the Hakeem Olajuwon gambit back in 1984” (D’alessandro). When teams lose games to raise their draft stock in order to get good players for the future. Should teams be aloud to do this? Tanking not only has an impact on fans, but the players, and coaches need to find something to play for as well. With tanking occurring in many sport leagues moral, wins, and fan base all goes down in exchange for a possible rise in the future. Lets look into the psychology of being a sports fan shall we? A loyal fan likes to represent his/her team in the best possible way. Loyal fans cannot stay away from the game. They will support their respe... ... middle of paper ... ... have had lottery picks giving them a bright outlook for the future. This move almost secures yet another lottery pick giving them more young talent. Although the first sight of tanking was in 1985 by the Rockets to draft Hakeem Olajuwon, tanking has never been at such a high rate then right now. It causes problems to fans, coaches, and players by lowering moral, and wins. The question is really should it be legal? In recent discussions, and Op-Eds people have expressed their opinions that talent shouldn’t be wasted for a year. On the other hand people make the argument that being bad for one year in exchange for being a playoff caliber team for up to 10 years is worth it. Hopefully the NBA discusses the matter with all its general mangers and figures out a solution that everybody can abide by. For now tanking is going to continue until somebody changes the rules.

More about Tanking: Losing Games to Improve Draft Positions

Open Document