NBA fans launch campaign to stop 'tanking'

In my work inbox this morning was an interesting e-mail.

The subject line read: ‘NBA fans launch petition campaign to stop tanking.’

I was of course intrigued, and opened the e-mail immediately.

Inside it, I found a call to arms in the form of NBArrassing.com; a campaign site seeking 10,000 fan signatures demanding the end of the current NBA Draft lottery system.

“With NBA ‘tanking’ reducing the fan experience and spirit of basketball to new lows, NBA fans have bound together to launch a campaign to reform the NBA Draft Lottery,” the e-mail explained.

Once the signature quota is met, the participating fans plan to present the petition to NBA commissioner Adam Silver on draft day, June 26, in New York City.

(It should be noted that Silver is on record as saying that he doesn't believe that the NBA has a 'tanking' problem. He sees teams perceived to be tanking as 'rebuilding.') 

In an effort to not only identify a solution but to also provide possible solutions, the site proposes some other options as alternatives to the currently established system.

Possible alternatives proposed include the lottery wheel idea, the Sloan solution, and the V Plan; all plans that aim to discourage teams for dropping games for ping-pong balls.

This issue is central to this season’s Sixers. Many feel that the 7-6 tanked the season, and the team may be responsible for sparking a lot of the current anti-tanking talk.

“It’s a strange feeling when you’re watching your favorite team play and you’re unsure if you want to cheer for them to win or hope for them to lose for a better draft position. NBA fans shouldn’t be in that situation,” stated Kevin Taddei, Sixers fan and creator of the Twitter handle @DidTheSixersWin.

‘Tanking,’ and the current lottery system continues to be a controversial topic among NBA fans. The current system may not be absolutely ideal, but it has worked, well, at times for quite a while. It could probably stand to be altered, but a very sound, fleshed-out alternative would need to be proposed and planned before the current system should be scrapped.

For more information on the campaign, visit the website at: NBArrassing.com