The NBA is doing what it can to fight their greatest tanking epidemic in many years.
In an official release on Thursday, the league announced that they are fining the Utah Jazz a sum of $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers a separate sum of $100,000. The fines stem from improper roster management by both teams during recent games.
The release noted that the Jazz sat top players Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. for the entire fourth quarter during successive games against the Orlando Magic on Feb. 7 and against the Miami Heat on Feb. 9. Markkanen and Jackson were said by the league to have been “otherwise able to continue to play.”
Additionally, the NBA’s release stated that the Pacers held out Pascal Siakam and two other starters for an entire game against (incidentally) the Jazz on Feb. 3. According to the NBA, those three players could have played during the contest (which was determined after a review by an independent physician), thereby constituting a violation of the league’s Player Participation Policy by Indiana.
In a subsequent statement on Thursday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver also delivered a very sharp message about the fines. “Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” said Silver.
The 18-37 Jazz and the 15-40 Pacers are two of the very worst teams in the league this year. With a star-studded 2026 NBA Draft class beckoning (headlined by Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and others), multiple teams are clearly trying to bottom out to increase their odds of earning a high pick.
Earlier in the day on Thursday, the Jazz in particular were accused of pulling another separate and unrelated tanking move. While Silver and the NBA have tried their hardest in recent years to curb the practice of tanking (including considering some very radical ideas), the problem only seems to be getting worse ahead of the 2026 Draft.
