One of the biggest talking points in the NBA over the last couple of months has been the tanking epidemic currently taking over the league. Adam Silver and the league front office have been mulling potential solutions to the problem, which has caused several blowouts to take place seemingly every night as teams rest key players in an effort to improve their draft position.
Recently, NBA insider John Hollinger of The Athletic shed light on just how bad the tanking problem has been in the NBA down the stretch of the 2025-26 season.
“Overall, the eight tanking teams are 17-144 against the 20 legit squads since the trade deadline, a 0.106 winning percentage. To put this achievement into perspective, considering that the Chicago Bulls alone won 18 games against the postseason-20 before the trade deadline,” reported Hollinger.
“…The average team in this group, when faced with any type of real basketball game, is playing as bad as the worst team in history (the 7-59 Charlotte Bobcats during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season), posting a despicable .106 winning percentage that equates to an 8.7-win season over 82 games, with nearly the worst scoring margin in NBA history,” he added.
Indeed, teams have been utterly shameless about sitting their star players on a nightly basis with made-up injuries in an attempt to get a slightly better chance at a higher draft pick in what is projected to be a loaded 2026 class.
Silver promised to come up with a solution to the problem at his media availability during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, but it's unclear what exit ramp the league has from this issue that will simultaneously help bad teams get better while not incentivizing teams to sit their players.
This offseason figures to be a critical one when it comes to the future of tanking in the NBA.
