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One of the smartest things a bad NBA team can do down the stretch of a very bad season is to go out of their way to lose as many games as possible so they can have the best chance of winning the NBA Draft lottery.
It’s called tanking, of course, and it’s a glorious thing to watch, unless you’re a fan of the team that’s doing the tanking.
The Golden State Warriors, apparently, have no interest in tanking, which is sad. A report on Tuesday by The Athletic’s Shams Charania has Steph Curry getting ready to make his return to the lineup on Sunday when the Warriors face the Washington Wizards at home.
That’s not how you tank!
That’s the opposite of how you tank!
I get it, the Warriors have been used to playing for NBA titles over the past bunch of years, so winning has become a habit and losing has been an enemy. But this season has been a mess. They lost Kevin Durant to free agency in the offseason, Klay Thompson is out for the entire the season with the knee injury suffered in the NBA Finals last June, and Curry has played in just four games due to a broken hand.
This has all led the Warriors to the worst record in the NBA and an inside track to the best odds of winning the NBA Draft lottery.
Now they want to risk that all by bringing back Curry?
Not great, Bob!
Curry’s return for the last month of the season probably won’t lead to a ton of wins, but it could lead to some and that’s not what you want when you need to tank.
And yes, the Warriors could still get the No. 1 pick in this June’s draft, as the best odds don’t always lead to the top pick. Which is something the Knicks know all to well (too soon?).
But why risk things?
The best move would be to tell Steph, who has played a lot of basketball during the championship runs, to enjoy that seat on the bench for the rest of the year and get some rest for next season, when things will go back to meaning something for the Warriors.
I get it – basketball is fun to play, especially when you play it as well as Curry does, but he can have his fun in practice, then toss a suit on and watch from the games from the sideline.
This year should be a wash for Steve Kerr and Co., which had just 12 wins heading into last night’s game against the Kings.
Instead, now they are going to try risk this perfect, imperfect season by adding one of the best players in the league to a roster that has been built for losing.
Sometimes winning just ain’t good for business.
And that time is right now for the Warriors.
Tuesday’s biggest winner: Tim Tebow.
The former Heisman-winning quarterback is still chasing his baseball dream, which you have to respect even if you’re not a fan of Tebow. On Tuesday he smacked his first home run in a Mets spring training game and he even hit it to opposite field. Will Tebow ever play in a MLB game? Probably not, though you never know with the Mets. But just going for it is still pretty admirable.
Quick hits: Brady’s beautiful tribute to Kobe… Lowry tried to get sneaky… Drake trolls Bucks again… Wilder mad at ref… And more!
– Kyle Lowry tried to sneak through a defender’s legs and NBA fans had jokes.
– Drake brought some WWE belts with him to troll the Bucks on Tuesday night.
– Turns out Deontay Wilder has more excuses for his loss to Tyson Fury.
– Tom Brady wrote a beautiful tribute to Kobe Bryant.
– Tiger Woods’ Masters menu might include milkshakes for a pretty great reason.
– Giants GM Dave Gettleman had a stunning press conference at the combine.