JAN

08

Every year, in the several weeks following the ringing in of the New Year, the same several weeks leading up to the NBA 's All-Star Weekend (February 15-17) and (more importantly) trade deadline (February 22), the Association enters into what is quickly becoming one of the most (oddly) intriguing periods of the season. You thinking of All-Star balloting results? I'm not! How about playoff races? Gotta be the playoff races, right? Sorry! Guess again! I'm talking about TANKING SEASON! As they head toward the end of January, most NBA teams have a pretty good indication of exactly where they fit into the league's food chain. Legitimate playoff teams and championship contenders start looking to make acquisitions in the interest of taking the next step' and playing into the summer months. As for the rest of the league, whether we're talking about ex-contenders that have fallen back to earth or one of the NBA's perennial rebuilding stories, it is at this time that the harsh reality of a fruitless season truly begins to set in. With little left to play for, these teams turn to the future, some will look at trades aimed at improving team chemistry, others will do so looking to dump salary, but they will all (provided their picks have not been traded) look to the draft. And without fail, as they have done time and again, the NBA's bottom-dwellers will look to position themselves to land as high a draft pick as possible- this means losing games. A lot of games. It may a little bit embarrassing, but it can't be ignored- NBA teams throw games. Going against the principles of competition, sportsmanship and customer service, NBA teams intentionally field weak lineups in order to lose games and potentially improve their positions in the draft. This is not a new concept, but last season, and probably again in the weeks to come, widespread tanking in the NBA has reached humiliating proportions, with sub-.500 NBA teams' acting like junkies looking for a fix in their desire for "mor...

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