Quote Originally Posted by Henry Abbott
Abbott: No, of course not. This is compe ion. But on the other hand: The Grizzlies and the Bulls are alike. With a little tweak, or even without, we know the rosters could be really good. This is where the NBA rules get totally loco. The model in which hoops mimics real life says hang in there, tough it out, and you never know what's going to happen. That's what I'd like to watch. The NBA model, though, is the 1996-97 Spurs, and how they used a proven good roster plus one major injury and some shenanigans to get a Tim Duncan dynasty.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/.../tank-not-tank


So, the Spurs were a proven roster how? They had Avery Johnson and Vinny Del Negro as the starting backcourt, shooters who can't shoot, and was basically David Robinson and Sean Elliott taking on the defense and the offense.

Elliott was injured for all by 39 games of the season, and he wasn't sitting to tank, he played in only 36 games the NEXT season, after they drafted Duncan. Eventually, Elliott required a kidney transplant.

Robinson was hurt for all but 6 games. The injuries to his back and leg would follow him for the rest of his career. A player who played 80+ games 6 of the previous 7 years (missed 14 games due to a broken hand in his third year), Robinson only managed to play 80 games twice in the following 7 years. He was battling with a painful back that would render him immobile for stretches of a time.

The Spurs were so cursed that year, the only player to play more than 80 games or more was Cory Alexander and Greg Anderson. If you are trying to tank, you don't sit players like Vinny Del Negro and Monty Williams, you play them extensive minutes, and yet the Spurs still gave Elliott 36 minutes a game when he was available. It got so bad, a 37 year old Nique was their leading scorer.

The Spurs didn't even get the worst record that year, they were 3rd worst, and they even managed to win 4 of the last 13 games. Would you do that if you were tanking?