Phoenix Suns owner Matt Ishbia is disgusted by the games teams take to try to improve their position, calling it “ridiculous,” “losing behavior that losers do” and “far worse than any prop betting scandal” in a social media post Thursday.
Ishbia linked his tweet to a Yahoo Sports story posted on X about tanks in the league. Although it’s not new, the so-called strategy came back to the fore when commissioner Adam Silver spoke last weekend about its spread after the Utah Jazz were fined $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers were fined $100,000 last week.
“This is ridiculous! Tanking is a losing behavior carried out by losers,” Ishbia wrote on his X account. “Losing intentionally is something no one should want to be associated with. It’s embarrassing for the league and the organizations.
He continued: “To talk about this as a ‘strategy’ is ridiculous.” “If you’re a bad team, you’ll get a good pick. That makes sense. But intentionally suspending players and intentionally losing games is a disgrace and affects the integrity of the entire league. This is far worse than any prop betting scandal. This is throwing games strategically.”
Ishbia completed his purchase of the WNBA’s Suns and Phoenix Mercury from Robert Sarver in February 2023 for $4 billion.
Phoenix doesn’t control its first-round pick until 2032 due to trades made since 2023, meaning the Suns can’t profit from intentionally losing games.
“It’s terrible for the fans who pay to watch and root for their team,” wrote Ishbia, who played guard at Michigan State and appeared in 48 games from 1999-2002, including the 2000 national championship season. “And it’s terrible for all the real teams competing for playoff spots.”
Silver said Saturday during All-Star weekend in Inglewood, Calif., that teams’ heavy-handed approach to lockers is worse than he’s seen in recent memory.
“That’s what led to those fines, and not just those fines but to my statement that we’re going to be looking closely at the totality of the circumstances this season in terms of the conduct of the teams, and we intentionally wanted the teams to be aware of that,” Silver said.
The Jazz were fined for restricting the playing time of two of their best players, while the Pacers were penalized for roster manipulation, which resulted in three key players being denied a final game.
Silver says the league may impose additional penalties, up to and including forfeiting team draft picks.
“I think we get at this two ways,” Silver said. “One is, again, focusing on the here and now, the behavior we’re seeing from our teams and doing everything we can to remind them of their obligations to the fans and their partner teams. But No. 2… the competition committee began earlier this year to reconsider the entire approach to how the draft lottery works.”
In his post, Ishbia said that he is confident that silver will solve the problem with massive changes.
“Those of us in a position of influence need to speak out,” Ishbia wrote. “…The only strategy is to do the right thing by the fans, the players and the NBA community.”
Media at the field level
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