Can The NBA Really Stop ‘Tanking?’

07 Mar, 2018

The NBA issued a warning to the Bulls about resting healthy players Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday, according to multiple reports.

Following the dialogue between Chicago and the league office, the Bulls agreed to play both Lopez and Holiday more extensively during the last month of the season, per Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania.

Lopez has missed the last six games, while Holiday has sat out the last five of six.

Bulls executive vice president John Paxson confirmed the team spoke with the league office in a statement as reported by the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson.

“After the All-Star break, we had communication with the league office about Robin and Justin’s roles,” Paxson said. “After healthy dialogue, the league determined that their situations fall into the ‘player rest’ policy. We respect the communication and cooperative dialogue with the league and will adhere to their recommendations going forward.”

The league recently said in a memo that “tanking” will result in swift punishment if evidence of purposefully trying to lose games was found. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $600,000 for publicly stating his team is better off losing their matchups.

NBA.com

Image NBA twitter

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