A lot went on in the NBA this past weekend. Of course, there were multiple festivities taking place in Inglewood, CA at the 75th All-Star Weekend.
As previously mentioned, Friday was the day the Point God Chris Paul officially announced his retirement after 21 seasons in the NBA.
And then there was the incident involving the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers being fined for sitting key players.
The Jazz were fined $500,000 for sitting
Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson, Jr. during games on February 7th and 9th.
The Indiana Pacers were also fined $100,000 for opting to sit Pascal Siakam and two additional starters on February 3rd.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated,
“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games.”
Apparently, the Oklahoma City Thunder were working behind the scenes to address the tanking concerns.
OKC owns the Jazz’s pick provided it falls outside the top eight.
Jones said via an interview on KSL Sports Zone,
“It’s Oklahoma City going through back channels to try to put pressure on the Jazz to play the season out in order for them to get the pick. That’s what it is.”
Tanking has been and continues to be a concern for the league each and every season. With the addition of pick conveyance into the mix, sitting out key players and even the illusion of tanking can involve more than one franchise.
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