NBA franchises' manipulation of players' injuries and the draft lottery

balance · 06-26-2008, 02:17 AM

I was going to wait until I had a bit more evidence to start this thread, but I figured WTF I can always add info to the thread.

In 1996-97, Michael Jordan and his Bulls were handing the rest of the NBA their asses on a collective platter. It was, after all, the second conquest in Chicago's duplicate quest of 3-peats. Everyone knew that no one could beat Jordan and his Bulls.

David Robinson played 6 games for the San Antonio Spurs that season, and the Spurs would go on to post a pathetic 20-62 record. Many think the Spurs sacrificed that season in adherence to their larger plans. San Antonio then "landed" the number one pick in the draft in the '97 offseason, winning the right to select Tim Duncan. The Spurs went on to win 4 Championships with Duncan.

The Vancouver Grizzlies haul ass to Memphis and the only teams left in the Pacific Northwest are Portland and Seattle, with the Sonics threatening to ditch town.. That's a pretty large region of potential basketball fans to be lost.

'07 NBA Draft Lottery, everyone is shocked when Portland gets #1 and Seattle gets #2. It didn't work, I guess, as the Sonics are still moving to Oklahoma.

And now in '08. Miami and Riley sacrifice the season en route to gaining the #2 pick. Riley's not going to trade the #2 and a shot at Beasley. He got exactly what he, and me as a Heat fan, wanted.

balance · 06-26-2008, 02:22 AM

I'm kinda all over the place here.

BeverlyBK · 06-26-2008, 03:08 AM

Robinson's injury was legit, in a lost season, why would they try to rush him back? It's not like the NBA would willingly stack the deck in favor of the Spurs, a franchise that is a ratings-killer on the national stage, and one of the smaller NBA markets.

The same applies with the Grizz moving from Vancouver. It was the NBA's version of Siberia: Steve Francis actually moaned on television when drafted by the Grizz. That team would never be able to sign premium free agents or keep young talent. Memphis (as a city) is a considerable upgrade. It's ina basketball-friendly state, a wealthy city (FedEx and banking bucks), and closer to many young black players' hometowns.

Shitty teams get good draft picks. The lottery (in theory) keeps teams from outright tanking for the best young player early.

Cecile Peoples · 06-26-2008, 03:23 AM

I thought this would be more of a "tanking" thread and less of a "conspiracy" thread. I was disappointed. I'm not real interested in bandying conspiracy theories back and forth.

balance · 06-26-2008, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cecile Peoples

I thought this would be more of a "tanking" thread and less of a "conspiracy" thread. I was disappointed. I'm not real interested in bandying conspiracy theories back and forth.

How exactly does does "tanking" and "conspiracy" not go hand-in-hand?

The Gem · 06-26-2008, 04:13 AM

Cleveland just decided that giving Ricky Davis the ball on every possession was the key to winning enough games to give them the most lottery balls for Lebron.

Ricky Davis actually had a quote when they drafted Lebron, that he thought Lebron was another player brought in to get Davis 20 ppg.

this happens all the time. It isn't a big deal. Riley did a great job, unfortunately he has never been a good executive. He basically gave fair value for Shaq, LA just screwed it up by trading Butler for Kwame. Riley will find a way to screw this up, or he will blind luck himself into another championship in a Danny Ainge like move. He will probably turn the 2nd pick into two top 6 picks and then turn each of those picks into Elton Brand and a point guard

I'm sure if the Clippers cannot walk away with someone good this year, we will see them tank the shit out of this year to give them a shot at JEnnings or Derozan.

Cecile Peoples · 06-26-2008, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balance

How exactly does does "tanking" and "conspiracy" not go hand-in-hand?

Tanking - team president/GM/coach/whoever exaggerates an injury to keep a good player out and increase losses. Basically it's completely one sided, one person conspiring to do something isn't really a conspiracy. i.e., Doc Rivers wants to lose games, so he tells everyone Pierce is injured and doesn't play him.

Conspiracy - Several different people/sides all work together to make something happen. This is multi-faceted and seedy. i.e., the NBA wants to keep basketball in the Northwest, so the league contacts those teams and tells them to lose, which they do, then the lottery is rigged by technicians and David Stern acts surprised when it happens. Many sides working together, way more variables, way harder/impossible to prove, brings the entire sport into question (depending on the scope).

Conspiracy theories don't interest me, because they're ludicrously hard to prove, and they just result in meaningless insults (if you believe everything you're told, you're a sheep who can't think for himself -- if you believe in conspiracies, take off your tinfoil hat and get a girlfriend). A tanking discussion is way more provable and a result can actually be reached.

AznTrojan · 06-26-2008, 06:02 AM

tanking doesn't work.. the team with the most losses rarely gets the 1st pick..

Cecile Peoples · 06-26-2008, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AznTrojan

tanking doesn't work.. the team with the most losses rarely gets the 1st pick..

So maybe teams tank to get the 3rd worse record?

TheBestEver · 06-26-2008, 10:25 AM

Remember though, only 1 number 1 draft pick player has ever brought a trophy to the team that drafted him. That was Tim Duncan...Lebron got kinda close.