In the world of competitive sport, winning means everything, even if it means strategic losing. A while back, The Lead covered the Utah Jazz’s newfound infamy for tanking, discussing the origins of the strategy and its recent relevance. The Lead and Jazz fans alike thought the team’s time in the limelight would be short-lived.
Well, everyone was wrong. Utah, in the fourth quarter, pulled starters like Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen to seemingly lose games. This received heavy scrutiny from the NBA media.
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For an entire week, new jabs from ESPN talking heads demanded reprimand, criticizing Utah for allegedly trying to throw games to secure better draft lottery odds.
This kind of talk led to the NBA fining the Jazz organization $500,000 and $100,000 for their tanking counterpart, the Indiana Pacers, in an attempt to discipline the teams for tanking basketball games. There are clear overarching issues that plague the league and lead small-market teams like the Jazz and Pacers to commit atrocities in the eyes of fans and gamblers.
Small Market Slander
In every sports league, wherever they are located in the world, there exist large and small markets within its financial ecosystem. Due to higher population and marketability, large markets get better advertising and TV time. Sports journalists and media spend most of their time and energy covering them.
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Some leagues, like the MLS and NHL, do a good job at highlighting the importance of all of the cities that host their teams. Other leagues, like the NBA, almost seem to alienate smaller markets.
Throughout his tenure, former NBA commissioner David Stern pushed long-time owner Larry H. Miller to move Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada. Stern seemed to believe Las Vegas would be a better market than Salt Lake City. Shortly after his advances, the Jazz further cemented themselves in the community by punching their ticket to back-to-back NBA Finals.
Salt Lake City has been the face of scrutinized cities for being too small and boring for star NBA talent to live there. Some even go as far as saying they hate the place.
Media and Players’ Disdain for Small Markets
Unfortunately, it’s not just Utah that faces this league-wide discrimination. Other cities like Indianapolis deal with the same treatment. When the All-Star game made an appearance there in 2024, Draymond Green shared his distaste for the city.
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“Let’s not have another All-Star in Indiana,” Green stated. To say that on live television, when one of the league’s most well-run organizations is trying to advertise its city, is uncalled for.
Sacramento several years ago received similar comments on FanDuel TV when Lou Williams asked Shams Charania playfully, “You ever been to Sacramento, Shams?”
Though it may seem harmless to large market fans and media members alike, the tiny digs and negative comments (even playful ones) about small markets have led to a negative view of smaller American cities among both players and fans.
Even if these small markets have competitive teams, the media elects to disregard them in order to grant more screen time to the Los Angeles Lakers or the New York Knicks. Last season, Charles Barkley called out this narrative on live TV.
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“’I saw a fool–an idiot–on TV talking about the Lakers saved the NBA,’” Barkley emphatically said. “’But the reason the season’s been going great is because of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.’” He later went on to state, “’Y’all just want to talk about the Golden State Warriors and the Lakers.’”
This short-sighted perception ties the small markets’ hands behind their backs when it comes to player acquisition. The Jazz have a hard time signing star NBA talent in free agency due to the misconceptions about the state.
Small Markets Need the Draft
Due to this toxic culture, small market teams and undesirable large markets have to rely on the draft and savvy trades to create competitive teams. Time and time again, other organizations have proven that tanking works.
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As much as the Thunder and its fans wouldn’t like to admit, tanking in the 2021-22 season helped acquire Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams as the second and twelfth picks, respectively, which changed Oklahoma City’s franchise forever.
Without that year of losing games, the Thunder wouldn’t have the roster to win the 2025 NBA Championship. The Detroit Pistons have had a similar turnaround. In the 2023-24 season, the Pistons were one of the worst teams in the league with a record of 14-68. Today, the Pistons are the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference standings.
What changed their trajectory? Tanking and drafting talents like Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson. Without the draft, and the poor image NBA media paints for so many cities, many doubt that these players would choose to go to these destinations.
This all points to why the Jazz are pulling their starters in the fourth quarter. If they want a chance at the best talent in the league, they have to lose games and draft the right players. Simply put, it’s the system the NBA has set up.
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What Needs to Change
The NBA can repair its culture and improve the product on the floor by changing the tactics of its media members. Look to the NFL as an example when it comes to sharing revenue and utilizing its media to prop up small markets.
Every single team in the NFL receives a $400 million dollar check from their TV contracts. With a heavy salary cap and teams receiving equal pay, the NFL sets up each team with the ability to become competitive.
They also have their media cover each team and their cities equally. The only time you really see NFL media talk bad about a city is when the franchise itself, players, or coaches are doing a poor job.
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That’s why you see franchises like the Seattle Seahawks or Cincinnati Bengals get talked about by NFL and national media alike. Each city has a story behind each franchise, which makes players more eager to play for each market.
The NBA is already halfway there by having a salary cap with certain hard cap aprons that prevent large market teams from gaining an upper hand. Now the NBA needs its media outlets to bring all franchises into a better light.
If current and/or future players and casual fans could see what each market has to offer, perhaps a Jazz or Pacer team could entice talent through free agency to come over, eliminating the need for tanking.
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The post The Media, Not the Jazz, Are the NBA’s Biggest Problem appeared first on The Lead.