THE IRONY of the National Basketball Association being criticized for "tanking" is that historically it has done more to counter the rewards for doing so than the other major sports.
In the National Football League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer, the process is simple. The team with the worst record gets the top pick in the next draft.
The National Hockey League, like the NBA, has a draft lottery, but it was not until the 2016 draft that the top three positions became determined by lottery selection.
Since 1990, the NBA has used a weighted lottery system to determine the top three positions in its draft.