Welcome to Official NBA Tank Season where winning is losing, losing is winning, and shenanigans abound. The games are still entertaining, especially when the coaches understand the assignment, the players don’t fully buy in, and decision-makers have to get creative.
Take the Utah Jazz, for example. They got fined for blatantly tanking by doing stuff like sitting 23-year-old center Walker Kessler multiple games for “rest” or listing Lauri Markkanen as out with phony injuries.
And then, clearly chastened by Adam Silver’s iron rod of discipline, in the next game, Kessler was DNP-CD (that’s Did Not Play — Coach’s Decision).