Now that the All-Star break has concluded, the race for the postseason is now in full swing. Teams in contention for the postseason are battling it out to secure positioning. That leaves the other teams scrambling to lose games intentionally so that they can gain a foothold in the draft rankings.

Theoretically, lottery picks in the draft usually are reserved for the most under-performing teams in the league. Knowing this, many teams cut their seasons short when they know that they won't make the postseason.

Then, these teams will intentionally lose games to gain a lottery pick in the draft. Although this practice seems harmless, there are a variety of reasons why this method has angered league executives. To begin, contending postseason teams still have to play games against poor teams who tank. If these teams just lose on purpose, other teams will be disadvantaged since losing teams aren't trying anymore.

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In extreme cases, many playoff teams are closely similar in regards to wins and losses. Tanking teams can throw these records out of balance, which is why the league has strongly condemned the act. Nonetheless, it appears that the tanking has now begun.

The tanking has begun: The 10 worst teams in the NBA have lost a combined 41 straight games. Race to the bottom

The NBA has no choice but to turn a blind eye to this since they have no evidence that any of these teams are tanking. Though, if any executives of these teams make the mistakes of publicly commenting on this trend, they could face a hefty fine similar to the one the NBA slapped on Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.