The Utah Jazz, doing the same thing every other team going after Cooper Flagg is doing, were fined for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy.
For doing the same thing that every other team in the league has been doing all season, the Utah Jazz were singled out by Adam Silver and the NBA. Apparently, Adam Silver and the NBA aren’t checking the injury reports of teams like the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans, just the Jazz.
I’m sure that they’ll be more vigilant for other teams like they were for the Jazz, right? Or do we just single out the Jazz for some reason?
I can assure you, as someone who has hate-watched the Wizards, Pelicans, Raptors, Hornets, and literally every other tanking team in the league, the Utah Jazz have done nothing different.
Guess what, Adam. Utah has set itself up for the first time in franchise history to do this. So, of course, Adam Silver fines them. One of our writers, Tavan Parker, compiled a list of times teams in the have won 20 or fewer games, here goes:
Washington Wizards: 24
Detroit Pistons: 24
Houston Rockets: 21
Golden State Warriors: 20
Cleveland Cavaliers: 19
Phoenix Suns: 19
New York Knicks: 19
Brooklyn Nets: 17
Los Angeles Lakers: 16
Philadelphia 76ers: 16
Minnesota: 15
Milwaukee Bucks: 14
Orlando Magic: 13
Charlotte Hornets: 12
Los Angeles Clippers: 09
Sacramento Kings: 09
Miami Heat: 08
Oklahoma City Thunder: 08
New Orleans Pelicans: 05
Atlanta Hawks: 04
Denver Nuggets: 03
Chicago Bulls: 01
Memphis Grizzlies: 99
Toronto Raptors: 98
Boston Celtics: 97
San Antonio Spurs: 97
Dallas Mavericks: 94
Indiana Pacers: 83
Portland Trail Blazers: 72
Utah Jazz: NEVER
You want to try to bully the Jazz to get those stars somewhere else? Get ready for the likes of Cooper Flagg and AJ Dybantsa to Utah. Maybe then you’ll figure out that covering the entire NBA is the way to go and not endless games with major market teams, whether they’re good or not.
Now, the fine centers around Lauri Markkanen because he can be considered a “star.” So technically the league can do this, but it still makes it lame. It certainly makes a trade this offseason for Utah much more plausible. Maybe that’s the push from the league to get a star moved from a losing team?