It's time for the Celtics' Owners to take action

[Alleyoopster]

I'm sure most of us like the Celtic's owners. They seem like nice people and have done their best to bring a great product to the New England area. Sometimes though, when you are too nice people take advantage of you. I believe this is the case with the 76er's management. They've managed to get away with years of fraudulent behavior and the NBA owners (including the Celtics) have done nothing. And, they are doing it again this year. Losing, losing and more losing. For what reason? To get higher draft picks.

It's time for the NBA commissioner Adam Silver to stand up and start punishing the 76er's. This type of behavior would never be tolerated in the NFL. Tom Brady is suspected of letting air out of footballs and the Patriots lose a number one pick plus they are fined a million dollars. Why did this happen? Because the owners spoke up. They wanted the Patriots punished.

On the other hand, in the NBA, the good-guy Celtic owners are quieter than church mice while the 76er's are flouting the rules of fair play. Why? They should take a page out of Donald Trump's playbook. Act like a jerk, ask for the moon and get something done. (Personally, I abhor this type of behavior, but now realize it's what really works in this society...the squeaky wheel does get the grease.)
The 76er's are getting boatloads more number one picks in the coming years for essentially throwing seasons away. If the NBA doesn't do anything about it, then the Federal Government should step in and investigate this fraudulent behavior.
 
I'm appalled that we hear nothing from the NBA Commissioner on this issue. My feeling that's because owners are too nice and/or too afraid to take action. Come-on Irving, Wyc and Steve.. stand up for yourselves. Go into the Commissioner's office and tell them to punish this team. Time to stop being nice and act like jerks if you have to in order to get something done. And, be relentless about it.   

[hpantazo]

The Sixers strategy is all within the rules that all owners signed off on. There is nothing they can do. Also, the Sixers are winning lately. Last year was the year to call them out on this. This year it's too late.

[LarBrd33]

What the Lakers have done the past two years is 10x worse than the blatant tanking Boston and Philly did.  After Boston and Philly cleaned house they still coached to win games and played hard in spite of weak talent (Boston) and significant injuries (Philly plays at a 56 win pace with Embiid on the court).  The Lakers on the other hand intentionally lost games with extremely suspicious game decisions.   The tanking they did last season in the guise of a "Kobe farewell tour" is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen a team do.  It would have been like if the Celtics let a scrub like RJ hunter start over better players and take 30 shots a night and claimed it was "player development" as the team lost game after game.  Kobe was almost a Marcus smart level poor shooter last season. 35% FG.  29% from three.  17 shots per night.   The Lakers are the only of the three that NEEDED to stay in the bottom 3 (risk of losing their pick last year and this year) and it's clear they have done everything in their power to stay bottom 3.  League should strip them of championships.

[Surferdad]

This thread is more about personal feelings and biases than reality so here goes mine:

1. Patriots were punished due to jealousy, IMO.

2. 76ers should not be punished for losing.  Tanking is still a theory, IMO.  They are within the rules.

3. I came to this thread because I thought there would be a proposal for how Celtics owners can make the Celtics better, not about vindication.

[Ogaju]

I kind of share the OP's frustration but I am not sure what the NBA can do about this.

Tanking goes to the very core of the integrity of the game. The NBA must find a way to stop rewarding losing (after the Celtics get their haul from Brooklyn lol). That is what it comes to at the end of the day tanking is the result of a system that rewards losing. The NBA is crippled because acknowledging tanking in the public sphere is a direct indictment on the integrity of the game therefore the NBA will not publicly acknowledge tanking until it has an overwhelming response that will immediately restore the faith of the consumers of the NBA product. I am sure in private the commissioner has talked to the 76ers about this. That is why Jerry Coangelo was forced on them to right that ship, that is why you do not see them tanking this year. Now enter the Lakers who are about to go in full tank mode.

[Darío SpanishFan]

There is no possible punishment for tanking teams unless the NBA/owners set a clear definition of it. And it would be quite hard to agree in objective terms, I guess.

Excuses such as youth development, injuries, resting older players and more could be easy in justifying "tanking". I see a better solution (whatever it is) dealing with the lottery system.

[Ogaju]

There is no possible punishment for tanking teams unless the NBA/owners set a clear definition of it. And it would be quite hard to agree in objective terms, I guess.

Excuses such as youth development, injuries, resting older players and more could be easy in justifying "tanking". I see a better solution (whatever it is) dealing with the lottery system.

One way to scrap the tanking system is to just scrap the draft... every player is a free agent. Then try to develop a second division and institute a relegation system. Tanking will stop so fast all the teams will have a whiplash.

[GratefulCs]

What the Lakers have done the past two years is 10x worse than the blatant tanking Boston and Philly did.  After Boston and Philly cleaned house they still coached to win games and played hard in spite of weak talent (Boston) and significant injuries (Philly plays at a 56 win pace with Embiid on the court).  The Lakers on the other hand intentionally lost games with extremely suspicious game decisions.   The tanking they did last season in the guise of a "Kobe farewell tour" is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen a team do.  It would have been like if the Celtics let a scrub like RJ hunter start over better players and take 30 shots a night and claimed it was "player development" as the team lost game after game.  Kobe was almost a Marcus smart level poor shooter last season. 35% FG.  29% from three.  17 shots per night.   The Lakers are the only of the three that NEEDED to stay in the bottom 3 (risk of losing their pick last year and this year) and it's clear they have done everything in their power to stay bottom 3.  League should strip them of championships.

yup


The sixers cleaned house and didn't try to lose in game

Same with the C's a few years back

The lakers make sketchy in game decisions (for a few years now) in order to lose. And they're more desperate this year since they have the potential to lose the pick

[SHAQATTACK]

I kind of share the OP's frustration but I am not sure what the NBA can do about this.

Tanking goes to the very core of the integrity of the game. The NBA must find a way to stop rewarding losing (after the Celtics get their haul from Brooklyn lol). That is what it comes to at the end of the day tanking is the result of a system that rewards losing. The NBA is crippled because acknowledging tanking in the public sphere is a direct indictment on the integrity of the game therefore the NBA will not publicly acknowledge tanking until it has an overwhelming response that will immediately restore the faith of the consumers of the NBA product. I am sure in private the commissioner has talked to the 76ers about this. That is why Jerry Coangelo was forced on them to right that ship, that is why you do not see them tanking this year. Now enter the Lakers who are about to go in full tank mode.

TP......nothing more to add

[PAOBoston]

There is no possible punishment for tanking teams unless the NBA/owners set a clear definition of it. And it would be quite hard to agree in objective terms, I guess.

Excuses such as youth development, injuries, resting older players and more could be easy in justifying "tanking". I see a better solution (whatever it is) dealing with the lottery system.

One way to scrap the tanking system is to just scrap the draft... every player is a free agent. Then try to develop a second division and institute a relegation system. Tanking will stop so fast all the teams will have a whiplash.

Relegation would never be accepted here. The owners would never commit to it because it wouldn't make sense for them.

But I'm kind of with you that it would force team to be more proactive to be relevant.

[Smokeeye123]

This thread is an obvious troll as no one would be dumb enough to hold OP's opinions.

[Ogaju]

I agree that the owners would not like it but if the consumers fight they may get it. It may juts require changing the league to a two division league. What would you think will happen the season the league knows you are playing to divide the league into a premier and standard division based on league standing at the end of the season. Every game will be played like a playoff game.

[max215]

1. The Sixers haven't broken any rules.
2. What they did (their tanking is largely over) was smart and looks like it may have worked.
3. There is nothing to be done about this beside changing lottery rules in the CBA, which would hurt the Celtics/would not go into effect for 7 years.
4. The NBA did intervene by "encouraging" Philly to hire Jerry Colangelo.
5. Inviting the comparison to the pettiness and jealousy of NFL owners is probably not the greatest strategy, especially on a Boston sports board.

[Alleyoopster]

This thread is an obvious troll as no one would be dumb enough to hold OP's opinions.

You are likely thinking like a normal person which is to play nice and let people screw you over. Which is what the 76er's are doing to the NBA. 

The impetus for this post was the recent actions of our current President and how he goes about getting things done. He acts fearlessly in an attempt to accomplish his goals and deals with the consequences later. He's not worried about how people feel. He knows he has a large constituent base that supports his ideals. His negotiation strategy appears to be to shoot for the moon and hope to get somewhere get closer to it. (FWIW: This post is not about our current political state or party politics...I do not care for DT as a person.)
 
My feeling, after reading a number of these posts, is that most of us feel the 76er's are flagrant violators of principles of fair play. But, if the owners were to challenge the validity of this strategy...they would have to deal with: 1. how to punish with objectivity without previous regulations and 2. how to deal with the consequences of what Ogaju wrote in an earlier post. 

"The NBA is crippled because acknowledging tanking in the public sphere is a direct indictment on the integrity of the game therefore the NBA will not publicly acknowledge tanking until it has an overwhelming response that will immediately restore the faith of the consumers of the NBA product." 

If the owners feel that way, then it's up to us fans to take action and bring this to the attention of the legal or legislative authorities. I'm doubtful there is much support for such action, but it sure seems warranted. If rules were not broken, then some new ones need to be implemented. The owners don't seem to be moving in this direction.

[Surferdad]

This thread is an obvious troll as no one would be dumb enough to hold OP's opinions.

...
The impetus for this post was the recent actions of our current President and how he goes about getting things done. He acts fearlessly in an attempt to accomplish his goals and deals with the consequences later. He's not worried about how people feel. He knows he has a large constituent base that supports his ideals. His negotiation strategy appears to be to shoot for the moon and hope to get somewhere get closer to it. (FWIW: This post is not about our current political state or party politics...I do not care for DT as a person.)
 
...

Huh?  I fail to see the connection, but since you brought up politics, I take exception to "fearless".  He is the biggest coward on the planet currently.  That's the only way to explain his bullying and his denial of facts.  "shoot for the moon" could not be a worse strategy for a POTUS.