Sam Presti And The Oklahoma City Thunder Are Allegedly The Driving Force Behind The NBA Suddenly Singling Out The Jazz For Tanking

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If it feels weird to you that Adam Silver and the NBA all of a sudden care about tanking and a little fishy that they seem to really only be targeting one franchise (the Jazz), you certainly aren't alone. We always do this tanking dance every year until the media decides to move on to something else to fake care about, but rarely do we see what we got last night with the NBA dropping the hammer and tossing out a $500K fine because they didn't like how the Jazz utilized their roster. Were they tanking? Sure. But they didn't break the rules. 

So what about the Jazz has the NBA so bent out of shape? They are hardly the only team actively tanking right now, so what gives?

Well, to answer that question, I guess it depends on what you want to believe

Now, in the event you don't know who Tony Jones is, he's a long-time Jazz beat reporter, been in the NBA forever and now covers the Sixers. Does that mean we should take this with a grain of salt? Maybe. But it also doesn't mean he's making it up.

If true, I have to say that's pretty pathetic for Sam Presti and OKC to be doing. Talk about rules for thee and not for me holy shit. The entire foundation of the Thunder is due to multiple years of tanking! They shut down SGA multple times! They told Al Horford to literally go home because he was too good and was helping them win games at a time when Presti did not want to win games. Those are real things that happened!

What do we think the plan in OKC was for these seasons? Was it to win every game possible?

But now, because the Jazz are doing the same thing with a pick the Thunder own, Presti is running to Silver and the league about it? Talk about a hypocrite (if true). Guess what? If you're a rebuilding team like the Jazz, and you owe a protected pick in a loaded draft, you do everything you can do to avoid forking that pick over. Welcome to the NBA! We're seeing the Wizards do the exact same thing with the pick protections from the John Wall trade! That shit has been like top 6 protected for years, so what do the Wizards do? They make sure they lose enough to keep their pick. 

Sounds to me like Presti is just mad that he's getting a taste of his own medicine over a pick that he owns and was hoping would convey. It's just a gross look to be one of the teams in the NBA that very much benefited from tanking, and then go crying that another team is doing the exact same thing only now it's a problem because it hurts you rather than helps you.

Again, this is all alleged, so maybe it's bullshit. I tend to think otherwise though, because the weird coordinated attack on the Jazz doesn't exactly feel like an accident. Where were the $500K fines for the Kings and Wizards who sat their entire rosters? Is that not the same shit? Well, OKC doesn't own their picks now do they?

So what say you. Is this just a former Jazz reporter starting shit because his former team is being picked on, or do you buy that Presti and OKC are behind all the sudden punishment? I'm leaning on the side of the latter, but we'll probably never know for sure.