Commissioner Adam Silver’s $600,000 penalties against Utah Jazz and the Indiana Pacers highlight growing tension between draft incentives and the league’s $77bn media rights commitments
The National Basketball Association (NBA) levied strong sanctions against what it deemed blatant tanking behaviour on February 12, fining the Utah Jazz $500,000 and Indiana Pacers $100,000 in a clear signal Commissioner Adam Silver‘s patience with teams deliberately losing games has reached its limit.
The timing of the announcement – just hours before the league’s showcase All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles – points to the urgency with which the NBA is treating what has become a growing challenge to its competitive integrity, with potential implications for its recently negotiated $77bn media rights package.
The Jazz drew the league’s ire for removing stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. before the fourth quarter in consecutive games against Orlando and Miami, despite both players being healthy and the still in doubt.
The Pacers violated the Player Participation Policy by sitting Pascal Siakam and two other starters who, according to an independent physician’s review, could have played under the league’s medical standards.
Silver takes hardline stance on competitive integrity
“Overt behaviour like this that prioritises draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition,” he declared, adding that the league is working with its Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement “further measures to root out this type of conduct,” said Silver.
The NBA’s hardline on tanking is important because it is asking media partners Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon to pay approximately $7bn annually for rights that begin next season – nearly triple the current rate. Those deals were negotiated with the understanding the league would deliver competitive, must-watch programming.
As one anonymous media executive told Puck, “Our eyes were wide open,” acknowledging that while “regular season is nice-to-have,” the majority of the value of these media deals is centred around the postseason.
However, the current tank-fest threatens to erode even that qualified acceptance. The 2026 draft class, featuring consensus generational talents like Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, and Cameron Boozer, has intensified the race to the bottom.
ESPN reports that league meetings now openly reference a tanking epidemic, with several drastic remedies under consideration.
These include a tournament among lottery teams to determine draft order, prohibiting teams from drafting in the top four two consecutive years, and locking lottery positions on 1 March rather than season’s end – all potentially effective by the 2027 draft.
Gambling partnerships add commercial pressure
The urgency behind these proposals reflects concerns that move beyond disappointed fans and sceptical network providers.
With ESPN Bet paying the network $150m annually for marketing rights, and gambling partnerships now integral to the league’s revenue model, the spectre of games not being played competitively poses serious reputational and financial risks.
As reports from Deadline noted, if bettors don’t believe in competitive games, “that money could be in jeopardy.”
The fines themselves, which are relatively modest compared to franchise valuations exceeding $3bn, suggests the league recognises financial penalties alone won’t deter teams from pursuing franchise-altering draft picks.
Jazz owner Ryan Smith‘s social media response was telling: “Agree to disagree… Also, we won the game in Miami and got fined? That makes sense…”
