When the Dallas Mavericks landed the number one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft with only a 1.8% percent chance to do so, it should have been a lesson to bad teams to stop tanking. Instead of discouraging tanking, it somehow made the problem worse.

Tanking is when teams intentionally lose games to have a higher chance of getting a top pick in the next draft.

“Tanking is losing behavior done by losers,” Phoenix Suns’ owner Mat Ishbia posted on X. “Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with. Embarrassing for the league and for the organizations.”

He’s right.

Teams like the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers sit their stars on random nights. Others like the Sacramento Kings pull the plug during games, benching their stars for entire fourth quarters. Different methods, same message – winning can wait.

The NBA must do something about this. The lottery was supposed to fix tanking, by ensuring the three worst teams only have a 14% chance of landing the top pick. Rather than stopping teams from trying to be the worst in the league, it’s created a scenario where a third of the league wants to be in that bottom three.

That’s right. An astonishing 10 teams have already quit on the season in February. The NBA regular season has become about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Commissioner Adam Silver recently acknowledged the problem, fining the Jazz $500,000 and the Pacers $100,000 for sitting healthy players.

Yet, not much has changed. Since the fines, the Jazz are 0-2 and the Pacers are 0-4. This is a small sample, but it’s hard to fathom that this slap on the wrist will have an impact.

During All-Star Weekend, Silver addressed the problem, saying the league is considering “every possible remedy” and will continue to scrutinize teams moving forward.

NBA fans must hope franchises are listening. A league built on competition can’t survive on calculated collapse. Sit the stars. Stall the offense. Sacrifice the season. By February, the product feels lifeless and the regular season feels forgotten.

The league could try a few things to change this. Eliminating “protected” picks, changing the lottery odds again, or even shortening the season. Whatever it may be, it needs to happen quickly. If not, expect more “tank-offs”, like when the 18-44 Jazz take on the 16-45 Wizards later this week. Yikes.

When the Mavericks jumped the odds with just a 1.8% chance, it proved the lottery doesn’t reward losing — it rewards luck. If teams still tank, that’s not strategy. That’s surrender. And until the NBA treats it that way, the regular season will keep feeling like a game nobody’s trying to win.