The NBA All-Star Game happens Sunday at 2 p.m. PST.
The optics around All-Star weekend seem to be a mess right now, with questions swirling about tanking (hey, leave the Sacramento Kings out of this, alright?), the timing of the activities, how the dunk contest sucks now, if the format of the All Star game makes sense, and on and on.
To read up on NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s comments on everything, including potential expansion, click here. Silver admitted that tanking feels worse this season.
“There is talk about every possible remedy now to stop this behavior,” he said.
Sacramento has no representation whatsoever at the game. Unless you want to include a classic behind-the-back fake pass from the legend Jason Williams, and a pretty funny moment between former King DeMarcus Cousins and Nikola Jokic.
Nikola Jokić’s face when he realized DeMarcus Cousins was the one asking a question ????
The Joker proceeded to express his unwavering love for horses in Boogie’s hypothetical question ???? pic.twitter.com/1iWo9RY0PJ
— NBA (@NBA) February 14, 2026
Other than that, it is tough for Kings fans to get all that excited about the festivities.
Let’s talk about it in the comments.
Nah. When the commissioner of a league that is besieged with Giannis’ gambling site ties, Kawhi’s career of under the table pay, and game fixing a la Terry Rozier & Chauncey Billups, yet posits that tanking is the issue that needs focus and attention, well, let’s just say that I lose interest in the product.
I think we need to start having a conversation about how Adam Silver is literally the Vivek Ranadive of sports commissioners.
This guy has destroyed everything that David Stern has built when it comes to the game.
IMO, the distinction is that Stern prioritized growing the game by making the game accessible to the average American home. In addition to growing viewership, he grew the league by 7 teams over 30 years as commissioner.
Silver, on the other hand, has been commissioner for 12 years. We still sit at 30 teams, marketing hasn’t changed, viewership is getting harder to obtain (unless you can afford multiple streaming accounts), and the primary goal has been profit to the ownership groups. NBA valuations have skyrocketed the past decade, to the point where the Buss family became “poor” owners and needed to sell. How long before NBA teams are owned by private equity firms or foreign groups in Saudi Arabia or China? I think the days are dwindling of fan owners sitting court side rooting on their team and we will instead have figure heads who themselves answer to some sovereign wealth fund. Look no further than the Premier League as an example.
Private equity firms have already made incursions into the NBA ownership ranks:
And as of June of 2024, the Kings were the only team to have two separate private equity firms as part of their ownership group.
So…it has begun.
This is not really new. Arctos purchased a 17% stake in the Kings back in 2021, likely becoming the second largest shareholder. The valuation for the Kings at that time was about $1.8 billion; I recently saw a new valuation figure exceeding $5 billion.
https://kingsherald.com/latest-news/kings-confirm-sale-of-ownership-shares-to-arctos-sports-partners/
Caught this in the comments in an article that mentioned the Kings and Tanking. Sums it up perfectly!! The Kings ain’t tanking they stanking!
This might as well be a death sentence to (especially) the Kings or any other small market rebuilding team going forward.
No offense Royale, but the headline is clcikbait bullshit. The actual text:
“If…,” “Serious consideration…” This paragraph literally says nothing except one person’s hedged, baseless speculation. Ignore list.
Still wouldn’t put it past a guy like Silver, who lacks any morals or integrity, to lean more towards the “serious consideration ” angle seeing how he continues to operate running this league.
It’s a made up quote about a made up scenario that’s not worth 10 seconds of discussion because it would destroy the league.
Oh ok I gotcha.
Silver is serving the owners. They are the ones with zero morals, no integrity. It’s just like the assholes running this country. He’s serving these billionaires and doing what they want because they hold the power now. Back when Stern was commissioner, he had the power. It’s a different owner back that.
I think part of Sterns power is that we came in the league was still struggling, and he really helped grow the leagues brand. As such he had more power and sway. I think towards the end of his leadership the owners had changed and he didn’t have the sway and power he once had. Which isn’t to say the Silver is doing a great job but his job I suspect is more difficult. With franchises being more expensive it makes finding owners more difficult as fewer people/groups can afford them, and that I suspect is not good for the sport
This will happen sooner than anyone thinks. I’m surprised nobody has challenged the draft as a ” restraint of trade ” by now.
I don’t think we will ever see that, especially when there are alternative leagues players can opt for. The NBA’s argument would be simple, “Don’t want to follow our draft rules, then go play in Australia, Europe, or China. No one is stopping you.” Plus, I can’t imagine any agent advising their client to walk away from guaranteed first round money. Even if you are picked #30, that’s life changing money.
Now, if we there is a change, I could see fringe first rounders opting to “declare” for the draft, which is basically opting in, but then telling teams they won’t sign a 2nd round deal and will choose to go undrafted. This is the Austin Reeves model. He basically chose the Lakers as an undrafted free agent.
To be clear, from what understand, players need to “declare” in order to make an NBA roster. One cannot “NOT declare” as enter as a free agent. Even Brandon Jennings back in the day, who played a year in Europe, had to declare for the draft.
Guys can make above league minimum playing in college now. They may just stay there into their 30s.
Could they implement diminishing revenue sharing by rank to curb tanking? Teams that are intentionally bad are likely detracting from the overall value of the league and should be entitled to less. Financial incentive is probably one of the things these lower teams would be motivated by. Either that and/or flatten the odds of all the lottery picks so you could pick anywhere from 1-14 and will get a random spot.
Relegation. Expand the league by 2, have the bottom 2 or 4 teams get dropped to the G-League and the top 2 or 4 G-League teams get promoted to the NBA at the end of the season. Keep the draft but draft in reverse order of win record, NBA teams 32-1 and then the G-League teams 30-1. Maybe just kill the 2nd round altogether and have everybody else not drafted be a free agent.
It would be interesting to see the Sacramento Kings relegated and the Stockton Kings getting promoted at the same time.
Overall it sounds like a good idea, but there would have to be so much change to the league I doubt they would ever do it. They would need the parent teams to all divest from their G-League affiliate and then get rid of two way players. The salaries of the G-league team would need to be on par with the NBA teams. I also don’t think the league would want their top incoming talent to start off in the G League. Can you imagine if Wemby started/stayed in the G-League?
Maybe if they added two to the NBA and chopped the league in half into two tiers of leagues.
Ticket prices on a sliding scale that is determined by win-loss record. “Congestion Pricing” for sitting your stars … fans pay a fair price for what they receive.
I said this many years ago, and I will repeat it here –
There is a surefire way to alter tanking. But it will not ever happen.
Tanking is done to enhance the teams talent, at a more affordable fee.
You can help get rid of tanking by addressing the underlying problem – bad teams. Bad teams is why folks don’t like tanking. You don’t need to punish the fans of the cities that house these teams – those fans want to win. You need to de-incentivize losing.
Vivek Ranadive is a loser. He has had one playoff round in 14 seasons of ownership. One.
My proposal:
If you can’t get your team to the playoffs in five (5) seasons – your team goes up for sale. You can put all kinds of restrictions on sales, so that the host city of that franchise doesn’t get shafted, but if you, as an owner, do not have the wherewithal to foster a winning franchise in a reasonable period of time – you are out.
Tanking is no longer a problem.
My other solution – which is quick and not at all complicated – is to reward the teams that win the lottery, Picks #1, #2, #3 by moving them to the end of the draft the next season: Picks #30, #29, #28.
You’re welcome.
What’s frustrating to me is that tanking is no more a problem today than it was 40 years ago. Bad teams have always gone with a youth movement post deadline. It’s how good teams evaluate what they have and where they should go next. Why should a bad team continue to play the starters that made them bad in the first place?
The only reason, and I mean the ONLY REASON, this is becoming an issue in today’s NBA dialogue is… gambling. The league is officially in bed with online betting and tanking breaks the algorithms of sports betting and the number of bets that are placed. When things are status quo for the first half of the season, sports books can rely on daily bets of known daily players. When a team like Utah or or the Nets decides to sit their starters for most of the second half, folks stop betting because things are unpredictable. As an example, why would I place a prop bet on Lauri scoring 30 for Utah if I’m unsure he will play in the second half? This effects the sports books bottom line and they are now the major sponsor of the NBA.
So does the league have a tanking problem? NO, it has a gambling problem, and Silver is acting to address the bottom line of those the league is in bed with.
Gambling is a significant concern the League has with tanking, but as a fan of this team, as someone who has purchased tickets to see games, tanking is a problem.
For me, this is a bad team problem. The Kings will play other teams who sit their starters – good teams (Kawhi, you get a rest day!) and bad teams (Wizards, Utah). I don’t want to see these players and no one has offered a refund.
Incentivize winning – get rid of bad owners.
I understand what you are saying, but I don’t envision a scenario where a league is booting owners if they have 5 years of losing. There are just too many variables that can make that happen that have nothing to do with incompetence.
I totally understand the frustration from a paying fan as well. My only offering is stop giving the team money. That’s your only and most powerful tool to influence ownership.
Lastly, there is already an incentive for winning. Playoff teams and champions get far more money than perpetual cellar dwellers. Now, if you want to remove revenue sharing for teams that continually suck, that might get owners attention, but it also just may kill those teams. It’s like a reverse salary cap and we’d have baseball with the same 5 teams dominating every year.
Sacramento holds the record with 16 seasons. During that stretch the longest was 5 years.
Presently, the Charlotte Hornets have a 9 year drought and San Antonio with 6 seasons.
I say stick with 5 to put the team up for sale, and give the League a two year grace period to have an owner pass their vetting process. If by April of the 7th year the team can’t be in the playoffs, the new owner takes over in time for the draft/free agency.
Ok, I have all the answers. what’s next? world hunger? cancer? end all wars? Just ask me.
Are there any “franchise’ business models that follow this kind of idea? For example, if my Taco Bell doesn’t meet industry standards but still makes a profit, can the corporate overlord take away my franchise? I honestly don’t know.
It smells of a major legal battle, especially when each NBA franchise is raking in money.
Oh they absolutely can. The better funded / managed companies with Franchises have contingency for this. This doesn’t explain the last H.Salt in America on 16th street.
Maybe not sell the team but the majority partner has to step down and another partner gets a chance to run the team?
If you don’t sell you need to pay a fee?? Refundable after making playoffs. Relegation is where its at though…. Shit we’re all relegated to seeing the Kings sTANKING
I suspect the league really doesn’t care about bad owners as long as they have money, its one way for smart teams to get better or great teams to stay great, trade with the bad teams
Here its is. What we all suspected.
Shocker!
Now that Kelshi is on the horizon, I suspect many of the gambling companies are on borrowed time
Just make the odds even for all the non-playoff and play-in teams. That’s it. 10% chance for each slot in the lottery. No incentive to be a 15 win team versus a 31 win team.
The only issue that might cause teams to lose would be to avoid the 10th seed, but that means they don’t want a chance to make the 1st round of the playoffs. So be it. Tell that to your fan base.
And adjust how pick protections are handled. That, for me, is part of the issue with the current tanking problem. Team don’t want that pick to convey, so they try to be bad and hold onto it.
I don’t think the league will go back to a true equal lottery system of the 80s. That just leads to more controversy and conspiracies (frozen envelope?)
If anything, expanding the lottery odds to teams around 6th-10th has just given them more incentive to “tank. Why not just go back to the worst record gets the first pick? The willful tankers would drop from about 8 teams to 3 teams and then the truly bad teams get the best picks.
My “quick” solution would play absolute havoc with pick swaps, and that is why I like it so much (1,2,3, to 30, 29, 28 the next draft). Putting the lottery winner to the end of the draft for a season, many laughs there.
The problem is that too many of the bad teams remain bad – (again) that is why the lottery was added – Donald Sterling didn’t care that he got a top pick every year, it was just give me the TV and ticket revenue. The top talent goes to poorly managed and/or small market teams. Putting Victor Wambanyana in Sacramento makes the Kings better, but the League worse. And for how long?
Get rid of the bad owners.
Hey, I’m all for it, but I don’t see it happening unless there is some major political/social/economic issue that warrants it. The NBA just doesn’t want to open pandora’s box of excommunication of owners.
As long as the league continues to print money, no owner is getting removed for losing alone. If Vivek was funding terrorists, eating puppies, or defecating in public fountains, we may have a case, but that’s not happening. The dude is just a businessman that we disagree with and the NBA loves that he helps them print money, especially overseas.
not beating a dead horse, this is part of our conversation…
but there is League precedent on bad owners. Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans), along with the Donald Sterling and Robert Sarver. Other bad owners got out through public pressure (and who knows, maybe NBA pressure) – Lacob and Gruber acquire Warriors, and the Cuban deal I haven’t exactly figured out.
Boston and the Lakers – the NBA’s most storied winning franchises, are both being sold for massive amounts. IF the NBA lined up a buyer I am of the mind that they could coerce Ranadive to sell. That may be more wish than reality, because who knows? (not me).
And I don’t know all the shenanigans that unfolded with Starbucks guy and Seattle to OKC other than a failed arena. And that’s a major market that is finally up for reconsideration. Minnesota and Milwaukee are recent sales.
My point: teams get bought and sold all the time. The circumstances are only what we know. The Kings have exchanged ownership four times in their 41 seasons. It can be done. It should be done.
Is Joe Lacob a good owner or just a lucky one?
I’m not defending Vivek here, but what about Reinsdorf in Chicago he doesn’t care about winning he just wants to make money.
He has 6 Larry O’Briens that may be collecting dust, but they have been winners.
Da’ Bulls were the 6th seed in 2021. Jerry Reinsdorf purchased the team in 1985 (40 years ago) just after they drafted Michael Jordan.
Reinsdorf turns 90 years of age next week.
Lacob and Gruber purchased the Warriors for $450M 15 years ago (November 2010). They have 4 Championship trophies in their display case.
What has Vivek Ranadive won? (must be on a professional basketball level, 8th grade championships, as impressive as they are, do not count for the purposes of our discussion.)
NBA freaking out, meanwhile NFL and MLB just award pick based on record, no one says anything. There is no problem, it is what is and can’t be fixed. Shitty teams need good picks and players, cut them some slack.
As others have said it’s the gambling that’s ruined everything. Also they over regulated the game with too much of an emphasis on offense and a soft brand of play and players. It just seems sports in general aren’t as good as they used to be. The NBA really hasn’t grabbed my attention too much so far this year. Wemby is fun to watch and a few other teams. We’ll see, I usually don’t get fully into it until after All-star break.
MLB actually doesn’t anymore either. Just the NFL.
But MLB is unique in that the drafted player essentially never plays for the team that drafted them on Day 1 of the following season. Sometimes they never even play a game for that team. It usually takes anywhere from 1-3 years for that drafted player to reach MLB, and another year or two to have an impact.
NFL and NBA drafted players, especially at the top of the draft, play for their teams on Day 1. And the top draft picks for each are expected to have an impact from Day 1.
As a Raiders fan, it was interesting to see how teams handled their tanking – especially in light of the fact that it was considered a very weak draft for QBs, with only one being considered worthy of a 1st round pick.
Football was always traditionally the sport that people gambled on. Now it’s all major sports. I don’t know exactly how this all ends, but I am 100% sure that it’s going to eventually end in disaster (i.e., a modern Black Sox scandal).
Badge Legend