The NBA\u2019s tanking crisis is reaching a fever pitch, and even longtime supporters of the league like Dan Patrick are starting to get worried.<\/p>\n
NBA teams\u2019 tanking is nothing new. But this season, it has gone to extremes that Adam Silver and the rest of the league cannot be comfortable with. The Utah Jazz are playing their starters for three quarters and then sitting them for the fourth<\/a>. Trae Young and Anthony Davis aren\u2019t likely to suit up for the Washington Wizards this season, even though both were acquired before the trade deadline. And several other teams have all given up on the season before even the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s on top of the load-management debate, which has seen stars continue to sit out games despite the league\u2019s best efforts to get them to play more often. That was seen when LeBron James and almost the entire Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup<\/a> sat out against the San Antonio Spurs in a home game on Tuesday.<\/p>\n And Dan Patrick says that if the stars aren\u2019t playing, he\u2019s tuning out. And the league has to work to regain his trust.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re not playing, I\u2019m not watching. You\u2019ve got to win me back \u2013 I\u2019m an NBA fan for 60 years!\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 DP on NBA tanking and load management. pic.twitter.com\/DaGmlZ7Kev<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) February 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIs Trae Young playing? This is a guy who was averaging 27 and 10. I don\u2019t know. After a while, if they\u2019re not playing, I\u2019m not watching. And you\u2019ve got to win me back,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m an NBA fan for 60 years, but after a while, you\u2019re like, \u2018Who\u2019s playing?\u2019 Imagine you go to the Spurs game. Now, you got treated to Victor Wembanyama. But it\u2019s like no LeBron, no Luka. That might be the one time that you\u2019re gonna go, and you\u2019re gonna take the family to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n As was pointed out by Bill Simmons and Nick Wright in a podcast focused on the macro issues facing the NBA, there are now serious questions being pointed towards Adam Silver to do something to gain control over the situation as tanking throughout the league has spiraled beyond a point of no return<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what the commissioner can do. I mean, we\u2019ve been down this road. We\u2019re gonna continue to go down this road. The regular season doesn\u2019t mean anything,\u201d Patrick added.<\/p>\n The NBA is in the first year of billion-dollar media deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. They cashed in with a huge increase in rights fees. But years of guaranteed revenue can not mean the Association can afford to rest on its laurels. And right now the league is hit by stars missing games, both\u00a0due to load management and tanking, which is a nightmare scenario for those rights retaining anything close to their present value.<\/p>\n The more games that stars miss, the less that fans are going to be willing to pay to see any regular-season action or even bother finding it on their television or streaming device. The NBA needs to act before they don\u2019t just lose Dan Patrick but an entire generation of fans.<\/p>\n \t