Welcome to the Morning Shootaround, where every weekday you’ll get a fresh, topical column from one of SI.com’s NBA writers: Howard Beck on Mondays, Chris Mannix on Tuesdays, Michael Pina on Wednesdays, Chris Herring on Thursdays and Rohan Nadkarni on Fridays.
A gentle advisory to NBA fans: The time has come to put away the cheeky tank GIFs. To cease obsessing over ping-pong ball odds in March and April. To stop cheering for losses while repeatedly refreshing tankathon.com.
The Tanking Era as we knew it is over.