The Jazz need a distraction

The NBA cares most about tanking when everyone is talking about tanking. And that's how you get a $500,000 fine for the Jazz.

Good morning. All-Star Weekend is upon us. Let's basketball.

There's an argument to be made that the NBA and more specifically Adam Silver only care about tanking when conversation around tanking gets to a high enough pitch, that this is less an issue of anti-competitive behavior that really bothers him and more a public relations annoyance. In those cases where nearly the entire conversation about the NBA circles around the teams clearly trying to lose, it becomes enough of a bad look that Silver feels it necessary to do something. (The same could apply to tampering. The NBA hardly ever seems that mad about it until a story comes out pointing to some egregious tampering, in which case an embarrassed league seeks retribution from the bad actor. This is why I remain optimistic that the league is taking its Aspiration investigation seriously: it is super embarrassing for the league.)

The conversation around tanking is at a very high pitch right now, a couple octaves up from conversation around who qualifies as a contender or the races for the No. 6 seed or the MVP race. You can find plenty more NBA fans conversant in Utah Jazz fourth quarter roster strategies right now than whether Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic are going to be eligible for MVP based on the 65-game rule. Or maybe not. Maybe just a corner of the Basketball Internet is hyperfocused on this because it allows us to scratch our reformist itch and bitch about the commissioner's inaction. Who knows? But it's been the focus of most major NBA podcasts this week, ESPN has been talking about it, the newsletters and blogs are noting it, everyone is watching Will Hardy's substitution patterns and the Wizards' injury report.

In all likelihood, as a result, Silver levied a fine on the Jazz on Thursday. To show that he wasn't specifically focused on Utah, he hit the Pacers with one as well. The Jazz got $500,000 for the fourth quarter shenanigans in Orlando and Miami; the Pacers got dinged $100,000 for resting players against the Jazz, ironically. Here's the quote they put in there from Silver: