As the Utah Jazz and the Indiana Pacers were hit with fines due to “management of their rosters for recent games,” which is related to the tanking problem in the NBA, the former received a $500,000 fine, while the latter was for $100,000. With the Jazz at the forefront of tanking allegations, NBA analyst and former player Kendrick Perkins would say that the fines by the NBA were low.
When speaking on “NBA Today” for ESPN on the topic of the fines from the NBA towards Utah and Indiana, Perkins would go as far as to say that each team should have been fined $5 million for “disrespecting the game of basketball.” He would even say that tanking is a “nice” way to put what the teams were doing.
“I wish Adam Silver would have fined them $5 million for disrespecting the game of basketball, like, let's stop being nice about it and throwing out the word tanking,” Perkins said. “No, it's actually throwing games. You're trying to throw games to lose games. Think about that for a second. In one of the best sports in the world, in a competitive sport, you're teaching to try to lose games.”
"I wish Adam Silver would've fined them $5M for disrespecting the game of basketball. Let's stop being nice about it and throwing out the word 'tanking.' No, it's actually throwing games."
—@KendrickPerkins weighs in on the Jazz and Pacers being fined for sitting healthy players… pic.twitter.com/GoTP7vfQO2
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 13, 2026
Kendrick Perkins continues his message to the Jazz
While the Jazz face the $500,000 fine, the NBA cites two games in particular on Feb. 7 and Feb. 9 against the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat, respectively, that saw the team sit starters Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. for the fourth quarter. There is no refutation of them sitting due to Utah being blown out, as they were close games with both players having no injury designation at the time.
Perkins would fire back that even if teams are tanking for better draft picks, the prospects for the 2026 draft aren't generational.
“There's not a generational talent in this draft. Do they have some good franchise guys? Absolutely,” Perkins said. “AJ Dybantsa, is he a Victor [Wembanyama]? Is he a Cooper Flagg? Is he a LeBron [James]? No. Is any of those guys capable of doing something or taking it to that level? I think they're good starting points. But going back to Adam Silva, I would have fined their a** more.”
At any rate, Utah is currently 18-38, putting them as the third-worst record in the West.
