[Jones] One thing I’m hearing about Lauri Markkanen’s scheduled MRI: The league is sending independent doctors to verify.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7066226/2026/02/25/nba-tanking-jazz-fines-small-market/?source=user_shared_article
> One thing I’m hearing about Lauri Markkanen’s scheduled MRI: The league is sending independent doctors to verify.
The league really hates Utah 💀
No chance they’re getting the number one pick.
Silver’s already called it in.
The fix is in
Jazz get to draft hometown hero AJ Dybantsa just like the Cavs got lebron.
You’re not thinking about it hard enough. This is the league setting it up to give the Jazz the number 1 pick. This way they have a perfect counter example anytime someone says the draft is rigged
This would just fuel the crowd as a false flag lottery rigging
This is the way.
Silver will never rig it for a small market
A lot of people think the pelicans getting Zion was “rigged”
They wanted AD in LA
I mean yeah theres always the gift star player to the lakers option. But thats about it
Silver will reward the Kings. They legit just suck.
Washingtons winning the lotto, AJ
Pacers gonna get it. They played their already injured star in a Finals Game 7 to ensure people tuned in. Got really hurt less than a quarter in. Silvers gonna pay up for their sacrifice like he did with the Mavs.
I need this in my life
How bummed are we all going to be when the Mavs get it again?
Forget the number one pick, there’s no way Silver is letting them keep their pick
We were never getting it anyway. League hated us way before this.
Orrrrrrrrr the Jazz actually get the 1st pick to show that the fix isn’t in and never was lol
Duh, they’re getting Dybantsa w #2. Someone stupid is gonna convince themselves it’s better to draft the smaller, less athletic, injured, guard without demonstrated facilitating chops, over the productive freak athlete
I don’t remember how clippers pick protections are, but my crackpot theory is they get off on aspiration, get #1, and run next year with either Peterson or Boozer, Kawhi, and a healthy Garland, and are an immediate playoff team
To be fair, getting two injuries during practice in a league that doesn’t even hold practices anymore sounds sus lol
The schedule is so hectic that you can go 2 months without practice (as said by kon) but lauri just happens to get injured during one lol
Two injuries during one practice! Unless there’s footage of him falling down after getting clipped in the air, how the hell do you get two injuries haha
The Jazz social media posted several pictures of practice today, so at least that part is legit
and teams shutting guys down with soreness and back spasms every year in tanking spots isnt
The PR statement said he sustained two (!) injuries during practice. That’s not a “lingering” back spasms situation
if you are making up back spasms then its no different from making up a practice injury
tanking teams have been making up injuries for a loooong time
silver is just deciding to argue the validity for this one.
Not really. This is the most brazen tankjob I can ever recall. At least the Process Sixers traded away all their good players
Utah had Lauri on the trade block for two years. Nobody wanted to pay them what they wanted. It’s not on Utah to take a bad deal so that the rest of the league can feel better about them tanking.
It’s on Utah to not purposefully throw games by benching their good players.
The Jazz won the game they were fined for sitting players in the 4th. This is not any different than when OKC tanked to get Chet. Or when GS tanked to get Barnes. Lauri has played more games this year than LeBron or Luka. Wtf are we even talking about? Tanking was fine until Utah did it. You are either dumb or hypocritical to think what Utah is doing is wrong.
fuck lizard boy
Good. Punish unethical tanking.
fine, but define the fuckin standard and enforce it consistently instead of whatever the fuck this is
I think this is where it’s going. Utah taking the tank to next level. Gotta draw the line somewhere.
Or fix the NBA so teams don’t have to tank? Let’s stop blaming the teams that benefit the least from the setup of the league. Utah should have done more to be lower in the standings if I’m being honest. One player can turn a small market team like Utah from a talent farm to a dynasty. There is no ethical tanking when there is a clear competitive advantage for big market teams. This is where the focus of change should be. To make it so that the league is actually competitive and doesn’t just have the illusion of competition.
Ope, just kidding guys. MRI has been canceled
soreness doesnt always show up on an mri. Gotcha bitch. Take it to court and try to win a case in which you are trying to force a player to play in a league where load management is the standard.
Yeah it’s going to be really interesting how this plays out. What happens if the team of doctors disagree? There’s no way the NBA can force Lauri to play.
Yes, this is a hard one to police. I’m guessing most NBA players near the end of the season have something going on physically
Yeah heaven forbid he just lace up and play right? Lmao what are they putting in the water in Utah?
my guy, superstar players on championship contending teams sit out with rest.
if you are looking for problems, start there. Then we can get to bad teams whos only shot at real contention is through the draft because they arent a FA destination
tanking teams have been doing this for YEARS. If its not whats allowed, fine. Lets talk then. But the dumb fuck running the league has decided that instead of having rigid policy and guidelines in regards to tanking, hed just rather attack one team out of the blue.
Like the guy above me said they league literally implemented the 65 game rule in order to curtail this behavior for championship contending teams. Now we see a lot less of that behavior.
great, that applies to the rest designation and teams will still sit guys out extremely cautiously with minor injuries. So why wouldnt a team thats bad and not winning shit not be as cautious, or more?
Theres no policy in regards to tanking. And whatever hes decided to do about it so far has been selective. More like some company that causes devastation to the environment asking their employees to volunteer on a saturday to pick up garbage in a park to film a green pr commercial
my guy, superstar players on championship contending teams sit out with rest. if you are looking for problems, start there.
if you are looking for problems, start there.
Let’s not pretend like this isn’t something the league has complained about. They have complained about this and fined teams for resting stars in national TV games.
sure, its still selective. They fined us for playing guys, but in a way that hurts their gambling partners.
my point overall is there has to be a standard in place. There isnt. Hes just getting mad at teams and doing whatever he feels like in the moment
I don’t really get why people are so convinced this is about gambling
the leagues partners push live betting heavy. Setting live lines without knowing players will be benched is impossible and gives people an accessible edge. And thats before you get to player props.
nobody else has been fined for playing players. Itd be the same as fining a team for giving more minutes to their young players in a developmental season while limiting the load on their star guys. Utahs goal this year IS development. Lauri playing in the 20s minutes wise should be common.
theres just no other valid reason for fining a team for playing guys limited minutes.
The house plays both sides of the line. Most of the time they’re gonna win either way. Plus most player props are overs, so teams resting guys who were listed active is going to help the books win more, not less.
Have you considered the pressure might be from the league’s brand-new TV partners? This is NBC and Amazon’s first year as NBA stakeholders. That seems more plausible to me than the sports books being upset. I can’t imagine there’s much action on games involving tanking teams.
Obviously OKC is also pushing the league on this.
It’s weird they never did this when other teams were doing the exact same
yeah i mean the gambling companies have started to care and are putting pressure finally on the NBA to correct this, as has been reported. gonna see some changes going forward
Most bettors go with the overs. The gambling companies love tanking
Problem is in order for the casino to make money they need bettors on both sides. If everyone just knows a team is an automatic L then it’s really hard to get any action on that game.
That’s why I don’t think sportsbooks are driving this. How much action is there on Jazz games anyway?
Not when they have to refund bets on players who dont play. Once again, this was already reported on and posted on this sub a few days ago.
not when you can easily tell ppl to go bet the unders on players you know won’t get enough PT because they are on tanking teams. you really think the betting companies aren’t losing money because of this and that’s why the league is cracking down on this
the safest bet in the nba are double digit favorites when the favorite is over 500 and dog is tanking
pretty known in gambling community
I’m surprised the Jazz are what set this in motion. Like how out of control does one’s life need to get where they’re betting real, meaningful currency on the 2026 Utah Jazz lol
That’s the entire point; when everybody knows a team is trying to lose you can’t gamble on it. The league wants games fans can bet on.
Yeah and to be clear I’m hugely anti all this gambling stuff but from their prospective it makes a ton of sense. It isnt the Jazz specifically cause theyre the Jazz, but theyve been the ones most blatantly sitting guys out in winnable games (even quarters) when all this happens to be coming to a head.
I hate tanking personally and wish it was gone, and if any good can come from the horrible infestation of sports with gambling maybe doing away with intentionally losing games would be a good thing to come from an overall awful machine.
Betting is about predicting an outcome correctly…. so… betting on them doesnt really inherently mean something positive about the team. Just about correct predictions, such as them losing and their players getting unders cause theyre sitting them in 4th quarters of games.
Hey, maybe this puts pressure on the NBA to have better officiating. Maybe just maybe they can’t play favorites. I can dream.
It’s not particularly weird. Like with most things, as long as you don’t do it in a way that throws it in peoples faces and makes them uncomfortable with it, you generally won’t really face consequences. The Jazz sitting a star player that was available late in games clearly crossed that threshold for a lot of people. If the Jazz just sent Nurkic home the way the Thunder did with Horford, I doubt the league would care that much. If they traded Markkanen instead of sitting him late in games, they definitely wouldn’t care.
It’s also Utah’s 3rd season tanking to some extent, which is more than most teams do (it’s not like they were penalized last year), and it’s with a player who meets the definition of a star player in the participation policy.
Yea I am not sure why many in this thread are confused at why Utah is being targeted. They blatantly sat healthy players during 4th quarters to purposely lose. That’s breaking new ground in tanking that threatened the league’s competitiveness.
Raptors did that for the entirety of last year yet no one said anything
We’ve had the 9th pick, 10th pick, and 5th pick. If we had gotten the 1st overall pick last year and had gotten Flagg, we wouldn’t have been tanking this year. I like Ace Bailey a lot, but he’s a clear step down from the other top rookies in this class
this is my thought. We’ve seen countless players shut down on tanking teams with absolutely minimal diagnoses
coming after Utah like this is crazy. Set a fucking standard, or dont. Silver hasnt.
Come on man. This is like “But he was speeding too” when the cops been tailing you for the last 3 lights. You got to be able to at least behave when their eyes are already on you
What other teams have tanked for as long as the Jazz while also having a player as good as Lauri?
Jazz have tanked for 2 seasons, last year and this year
What, 2 years?
Lauri bout to wake up with a baseball bat to his ankle
Holy shit! XD
Now they’ll have to injure him fr or what, incase he was better than what Utah told?
All things said, the best litmus test is scheduling a game vs Lakers. Players like to come back from injuries to play against us.
They’re trying to track down Jeff Gillooly.
Who?
Didja ever hear the story about the ice skater Tonya Harding getting someone to attack and injure the knee of her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan? That someone was her boyfriend, Jeff Gillooly.
If you haven’t heard this story, you’re probably just not an unc like myself.
Thanks for the lore, brother man. This is an elite reference which pervades sports.
This comment of yours was like the triple alliterative improv scene for me: https://youtu.be/EtzWNaIx3jk?t=184&si=wPS40jmK8ixrLSuB
Have you had your colonoscopy yet?
were about to say fuck off and sit him with back spasms or soreness
Laurie can just say that it hurts, even if the MRI doesn’t show anything. Is the league going to make a player play even if he is in pain?
Lol, the independent doctors don’t talk to the players, remember?
Stop! Hammer Time!!
Steve Nash gif
Teams like OKC and San Antonio have ridden the tank up to the top of the western conference and now all the sudden Silver and the league want to come in and pull the ladder up behind them.
The gambling companies are complaining is the reason, okc and the spurs cashed out just in time
And OKC is one of the biggest ones complaining
Which is wild considering the were shutting down Horford and SGA a few years ago
“What if I told you they had a trade lined up three years ago for a significant win-now piece? Because they did. And what if I told you the agents told the Jazz that the player preferred to be elsewhere?”
I really want to know the player he’s talking about
Jrue
The inevitable downside of having racist fans who haven’t been able to be stopped for decades. The team has banned people for life. Their former owner publicly spoke out against it. But it didn’t stop fans from racially harassing Ja and Westbrook. Doesn’t help when Donovan Mitchell spoke about the racism he experienced in Utah and how it was better in Cleveland.
[ Removed by Reddit ]
Pretty bigoted of you to characterize an entire fan based off two people and two isolated incidents. In both situations those fans received permanent bans.
Do better as a human being.
You’re ignoring the part where Donovan Mitchell talked about his experience in Utah with racism was exhausting. Maybe stop ignoring racism and just call it out when you see it. Indiana has a lot of racist people too that like the pacers. You don’t need to defend the racist people in your fan base. Especially by saying it’s bigoted to point out the racist incidents.
Mitchell had more problems with our racist politicians not the fans.
And who elects the politicians?
utah is the state with the highest % of white people with a basketball team.
its just a fact.
So that means their fan base is racist? Man r/NBA really isn’t a place for intelligent conversation. You can say any bigoted shit you want as long as it’s at Utah. Wtf are these mods doing?
I said they had racist fans. I didn’t say the whole fanbase was racist. I even said that the team and owner did what they could to get rid of those fans. I didn’t put the blame of racist fans on the rest of Jazz fans, the team, or ownership. So the fact that those fans were banned permanently weren’t the gotcha you thought it was because I literally already wrote about the bans.
Racist fans and racist people in Utah are just part of the reality that discourages some free agents away from the Jazz. And defensive condescending people like you don’t help.
harden or kyrie
How is it that just last season the mavs were one win from making the playoffs and won the lottery for a generational talent with a 1.8% chance, and this season teams that actually suck and have injuries are being investigated for tanking as if that guarantees a good draft pick?
Because OKC is trying to pull up the ladder and they have the support of gambling companies.
But OKC tanked egregiously and now don’t want others to mimic them AND they want that Utah pick to convey.
dallas after trading luka completely shut down their entire team, too
Nah we didn’t shut down until Kyrie tore his ACL
Same reason Duncan went to the Spurs, it’s all rigged
I don’t get this argument because the league could have given Duncan to the Celtics to revive the Lakers-Celtics rivalry (and they had the best odds that year) instead of adding him to an already good Spurs team that happened to have a down season due to injuries.
My heart says it was rigged, but my head also says it was rigged
And now that have Ser Duncan the Tall, Wemby
Ballmer and Kawhi cheating the cap: I sleep
Utah not trying to win: real shit
The league’s priorities are wild sometimes, but at least they’re consistent about being inconsistent.
Facts
Feels like OKC and San Antonio are getting away with murder here.
I know its insanely difficult to prove they rig any of the draft lotteries but the Spurs run of lucky picks made me believe the rigging theories more than anything else including the Mavs/Flagg situation
It would be very Spurs to get Wemby, Castle, Harper right before the rules change so that can’t happen for other teams
Yeah the small market teams always seem to get the benefit of the doubt with these injury reports.
Is the League going to send doctors for every surgery announcement. Player’s union won’t like that.
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“All those years” was two seasons. The Jazz are now in year three of a serious tank, and have shown far greater propensity for shutting their players down to do it.
Yeah because they keep getting screwed by the lottery odds flattening. If their pick actually correspondended with their record any of these years they might be done tanking by now.
Or they might have picked scrubs and they’d still be tanking, who knows.
They’re desperately trying not to lose a top 8 protected pick, there’s not much more to it than that. They now have two all star level players and one of the better up-and-coming guards in the league and they’re still out there looking like the Process Sixers barely playing anybody with any talent, of course the league is more mad about that than OKC’s tank and is very interested in finding out how injured their guys actually are.
Or San Antonio.
Hey now, we tanked the old fashioned way—trading our best assets (dejounte, demar, Dwhite etc) for draft capital to the point we were ass on our own merits. Zach Collins and rookie Sochan were legitimately two of our best players the year we won the Wemby pick. There was no talent the caliber of Lauri to bench in the 4th or apply questionable injuries to lol.
“All those years”
Lmao, not only did they only tank for 2 years, but they didn’t sit out all their best players in the 4th quarter. Shai and horford were the only guys they really shut down and one of those seasons Shai actually got injured.
What years are you referring to
lol yeah how did somebody like horford get rejuvenated in OKC?
Let’s go investigate Trae Young too then. And all the other injuries from the other tanking teams. This is just total garbage from Adam Silver
They are. Maybe not Trae, but in the last few weeks they’ve hit anyone sitting out including SGA.
He may actually be injured this time, but when you’ve shut him down strategically for several years going now you don’t get the benefit of the doubt. They’ve done this specifically to Lauri several times. Way to piss away a guy’s prime. Not trading him either.
Would you rather him play 25 minutes or none at all?
The idea the NBA doctors should be able to decide if players should be able to play is absolutely and completely fucking insane.
They spend no time with the player, may or may not know their history and issues they have dealt with.
We going to do this for depression to? I need to see if my doctors agree that he is depressed and anxious. Sorry he’s not anxious enough, get him out there. If they make someone go out and then they get a long term injury what happens???
This is absolutely a clown show of idiocy.
Literally happens all the time in high stakes situations and legal disputes.
Also players don’t sit out for depression. The newest CBA mandates teams provide care, but if the player needs to step away it’s unpaid.
Players aren’t going to help their teams tank and miss paychecks.
I was just giving a hypothetical. It’s ridiculous to think you have to justify your injury of any kind
When they make as much money as they do and the leauge charges tickets at the type of prices they do, i dont have a problem with it
I’m not seeing a problem either.
This sets a bad precedent.
Even if he is found injured. What does it prove?
The league is starting to go down a super slippery slope.
They have a cap circumvention scandal, no resolution for Rozier, nothing about Giannis Kalshi, but they are locked in on the Jazz tank
Exactly. Out of all times the nba decides to crack down on tanking NOW? Pretty convenient timing from the nba
It’s wild that we have heard more about Utah tanking from the league than the Clippers paying Khawi under the table. Or GA asking for a trade then coming out with an equity stake in Kalshi.
Somehow Utah is ruining basketball!
There is no chance in Hell silver is giving them a top pick. No chance.
Never has happened to utah so u are right
I hope not. They are straight up wasting Lauri’s prime. Why give them a good draft pick if they already dont play their best player. Just sucks OKC and the Spurs got away with tanking for so long
I’m downright offended at the lack of trust
Lauri Markkanen wasn’t really injured but now that Silver is getting independent doctors involved Ainge is gonna show up at his house tonight with a sledgehammer like Kathy Bates in Misery
He did just drop 29 2 days ago , I guess it makes sense…. ?
They’re blatantly tanking so gotta make sure it’s not some other shenanigans
They sending Doc Rivers to check
This is actually hilarious.
This is basically the UN sending nuclear inspectors to North Korea.
The league did investigate OKC for resting SGA a couple of weeks ago. So maybe the league is just doing due diligence?
https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-thunder/okc-thunder-nba-investigation-injury-rest-management-spurs
Adam Silver is done playing with these teams
I love that the Jazz are getting Sixers’d. Someone else is finally experiencing consequences.