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The Utah Jazz have found a brilliant loophole around that policy while still finding a way to tank. In the last two games, the Jazz started Jaren Jackson Jr., Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkić . Granted, Nurk isn’t a star player, but he’s being lumped in with All-Stars Markkanen and JJJ for a reason here. All three players started in Orlando and in Miami this past week. All three combined to play zero fourth-quarter minutes. In both games. All three clocked in at 25 minutes in the first three quarters and then sat in the fourth quarters of both games. In Orlando, the tanking worked like a charm. The Jazz gave up a 33-23 quarter to the Magic and lost the game by three. It did not work Monday night against the Heat. Utah accidentally won that game 115-111. When Jazz coach Will Hardy was asked after the Heat win whether he considered putting Markkanen or Jackson back in the game in the fourth, he answered simply: “No.”

New York Times

Although tanking has been around in the NBA since time immemorial, the issue has been brought to the forefront once again after the Utah Jazz‘s curious strategy late in games against the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat.

Even though they had prolific big men, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., healthy and in uniform, Jazz head coach Will Hardy elected not to play either in the fourth quarters of the said contests. Against the Magic, even though the game hung in the balance in the final stanza, the Jazz didn’t even bother to call a single timeout and eventually lost, 120-117.

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The Jazz’s decisions did not go unnoticed by fans and analysts alike. On “NBA Today,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks called out the Jazz and called on the NBA to come up with a suitable measure to stop teams from tanking games.

Messing with the league’s integrity

The NBA is the world’s most prestigious basketball league, renowned for the intense competition that takes place every night. Fans pay big bucks to watch their favorite teams go head-to-head, expecting to see a competitive game until the final buzzer. However, when teams intentionally lose games, it undermines the very essence of what makes the NBA so exciting to watch daily.

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“I think what Utah is doing right now is messing around with the integrity of the NBA,” Marks pointed out. “The ability to sit players, starters in the fourth quarter, to not call timeouts in the fourth quarter. Orlando won the game on Saturday because they basically rested players and it backfired on them last night.”

“So, I think when if you’re the league, you’re looking at it — ‘All right, can we do some gimmicks? Can we alter protections and eliminate protections as far as picks? Or can we put the hammer down?'” he continued.

One former NBA star who was certainly appalled by what he saw the Jazz do was Kenyon Martin, who expressed his disdain for the practice.

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“This disgusting display of non-competitive organizations. I think it’s awful for the game. I think it’s awful for sports. Something has to be done. When you’re making it blatantly obvious like that, the league has to step in,” K-Mart stated.

“It has to be draft picks, some fines. Something has to give. Cuz it’s no good for the fans. If anybody is cheated, it’s the fans in these situations. These people are paying their hard-earned money to come out and see these guys play and cheer and root for them night in and night out, and you go out and do things like that.”

Related: “A lot of these stars that I’ve played with weren’t like that” – Ivica Zubac names James Harden as the most generous teammate he’s ever had

It’s an epidemic

To be fair to the Jazz, they aren’t the only ones who are trying their best to lose as many games as possible. The Washington Wizards actually acquired All-Stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis at the trade deadline, yet have no desire to see them on the court at all this season. The same goes for the Memphis Grizzlies, which finished the game against the Warriors with a virtual G League team.

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“Tank is the biggest problem that the league has right now, and it is an epidemic. The Jazz have become the poster boys. They’re not alone. A third of the league is blatantly tanking right now,” Tim MacMahon commented.

“This is on Adam Silver and the league office to figure out a solution — to figure out how to make it not smart strategy because the best teams in the league have benefited from tanking. That’s the problem,” he emphasized.

Tanking is a smart way to stock up on young, talented players who can elevate a team to elite status in the future. However, there’s a price to pay, and unfortunately, it’s the NBA and the fans who suffer the consequences.

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Feb 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

“What the Utah Jazz are doing is messing around with the integrity of the game.”

Bobby Marks took to national television to reiterate the discourse that has been poisoning recent NBA discussion — the Utah Jazz are dismantling the sanctity of competition. They’re shredding the fabric of competition; defiling the tapestry of professional basketball. How are they doing this? By losing basketball games

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The Utah Jazz have been at the forefront of NBA debate for the past few months, taking digital body blows from outraged observers and tanking scrutinizers.

Assuming you haven’t kept a tight watch on the bottom of the NBA standings, you’d understandably assume that a team sparking so much controversy would be far and away the ugliest example of their strategy. Surely, considering the growing wave of scrutiny, the Utah Jazz must have the worst record in the league, right?

Nope.

Bottom three?

Wrong again.

Utah sits with a 17-37 record, which is currently sixth-worst in the NBA and 5.5 games ahead of the last-place Kings. So what’s the rub?

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I have a theory, but let me warn you that I’m about to get biblical.

On the Day of Atonement, the ancient Israelites would ritualistically place the burden of their nation’s sin upon a goat. This animal’s role removed all guilt of wrongdoing from its community as it carried the nation’s burden into the wilderness. Distancing themselves from all of their shortcomings and wrongdoings

The Utah Jazz are not the villains of the NBA; they’re the scapegoats. The poster boy for the tankathon. They’re the tanking franchise bearing the weight of the basketball world’s sins.

The Utah Jazz are not the villains of the NBA; they’re the scapegoats.

The fans paid for tickets to watch the Utah Jazz, and that is exactly what they got: Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, and the newly-acquired Jaren Jackson Jr each appeared in this game to Utah’s advantage, pushing the visiting Jazz ahead by as many as 17 points before the game turned to the fourth quarter and those starters reclined on the bench. Fingers laced behind their heads, legs outstretched with ankles crossed, Utah’s stars would not re-enter the game even as the Magic whittled their lead down to single-digits, then one possession, until eventually claiming the lead and victory away from the tanking Jazz.

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Coach Will Hardy employed a similar strategy in the next game, pulling his starters in the fourth quarter and watching as the second unit beat Miami outright, thanks in part to a clutch three-pointer courtesy of third-year player and former first-round pick, Brice Sensabaugh.

Will Hardy has every right to employ the lineups of his choice — that’s what it means to be a head coach — and the NBA won’t punish him or the Jazz for the players he opted to play in crunch time. The moment Adam Silver steps in to declare who can and cannot play in the fourth quarter of a basketball game, that is when the integrity of competition will be compromised, not when a subpar team gives playing time to its bench.

Possibly the loudest whistle-blowers regarding Utah’s sins are the Dallas Mavericks. Yes, that’s right, the very same team that traded away Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis in a ‘win-now’ move to push themselves closer to championship contention. That team was rewarded with a shocking jump to the number-one pick and Cooper Flagg. Just one year prior, the Mavs were hit with a $750,000 fine for tanking, the largest such fine in league history.

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Yet it’s Dallas, the team with the seventh-worst record, just behind the Utah Jazz, who choose to virtue signal, casting the finger of shame toward the unethical Utah Jazz all across social media. They started the movement, and the NBA community is running with it.

‘Ethical tanking’ is a myth. It’s baffling to suggest that one team’s intentional losing is commendable while another’s is vile. It’s hypocrisy. It’s selective outrage. Yet this perspective has leaked into the mainstream, as evidenced by Mark’s ESPN spot.

‘Ethical tanking’ is a myth.

Where is the outcry toward Washington, a team resting its two All-Star acquisitions, as Davis was announced out for the season, and Young still awaits his debut? Where is the hatred for Sacramento as they sit their core on the way to a league-worst standing? The Indiana Pacers, last year’s NBA Finals runners-up who are clinging to a top-four protected pick, announced that their newest center, Ivica Zubac, won’t be making his debut any time soon.

But the Utah Jazz are ridiculed for running their best players for three quarters and cratering in the fourth? Those outraged at the Jazz’s tanking methods are misguided. Tanking is tanking is tanking. Regardless of execution, plenty more NBA teams are losing deliberately — they just have far less press coverage.

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Internet sleuths have their magnifying glass hovering directly over the Jazz; there’s no escaping their dutiful watch now. But the Jazz didn’t invent tanking, nor are they the only one of the NBA’s 30 teams to employ tanking strategies this season or any of the last decade-plus since Philadelphia installed “The Process”.

The system is flawed, and smart teams (especially those who historically struggle to lure in top free agents) are taking advantage. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, because the Utah Jazz are just one cog in the tanking machine.

So what can we do about tanking?

Seemingly, everyone has an idea about how to solve tanking in the NBA. Ideas span from flattening draft odds, employing lottery bans for teams that received a top pick, and even eliminating the lottery altogether, opting for a 30-team rotation that shifts one spot every season.

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I won’t pretend to know the solution for the NBA’s tanking problem — and yes, it is a problem that teams don’t want to win — but I’d suggest that all proposals are taken to Occam’s Razor. In other words, the best solution is often the simplest solution. I don’t subscribe to the idea that small-market teams should be barred from building through the draft in subsequent years. A one-and-done type of draft would be both complicated and unusual.

Basketball is a simple game at its core; complication isn’t the cure for its shortcomings.

Flattening the odds accomplished its original purpose: being detrimental to the worst records in the league and minimizing the reward for hunting that bottom spot in the standings. Since flattening lottery odds, the number-one odds have never been actualized into the number one pick.

Few understand this better than Utah (a franchise that has never had the pleasure of drafting first overall), which finished with the top lottery odds and a 52.1% chance of landing in the top four before sliding to five and picking up Rutgers’ Ace Bailey with their pick. Bailey is the symbol of Utah’s punishment for playing the game the ‘right way’ in 2025. He’s evidence that being the very worst guarantees nothing in the draft lottery, and the physical manifestation of his team’s shortcomings.

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The idea behind dissuading tanking was sound, but more teams than ever are still hunting lottery odds. Utah is no exception, nor are they a red stain on the flawless reputation of the NBA. There are at least seven Utah Jazz equivalents in 2025-26, and it’s time we stop singling out the Jazz for their part in the movement.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.

Utah was a heavy home underdog facing No. 3 Houston at the Huntsman Center on Tuesday night.

The visiting Cougars lived up to that billing, delivering the Runnin’ Utes a 66-52 loss on their home floor in a game where Houston led by as many as 22.

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Here are three takeaways that moved Utah to 9-15 overall and 1-10 in Big 12 play on the year.

Houston’s on-ball defense is scary good

The Cougars went on a 13-2 run in the first half, holding Utah scoreless for five minutes at one point to go up 33-18.

The Utes missed six straight field goals in that run, and Houston bottled up Utah’s leading scorer, Terrence Brown, for most of the half — he ended up with 3 first-half points.

He was 1 of 3 in the half, scoring on a driving layup with 2:07 until the break.

To start the second half, Houston forced turnovers on Utah’s first three possessions, and each led to a Cougars bucket.

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Alex Jensen called a timeout to stop the run, but the damage had been done as Houston went back up 40-25 after the Utes ended the first half with a solid stretch.

The Cougars ended up scoring 20 points on 13 Utah turnovers.

Sharp shooting from 3 — and not-so-sharp for Utah

Senior Emanuel Sharp was putting on a 3-point showcase in the Cougars’ win, as he made six first-half 3-pointers, including four straight.

In the second half, he hit back-to-back 3s to push the Houston lead to 48-29.

Sharp ended up making 8 of 13 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 27 points. The rest of his teammates struggled, as Houston shot 9 of 26 from outside.

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It was a tough night for Utah from 3-point range, as the Utes were 2 of 17.

Houston was simply too good outside a couple solid stretches from Utah

The Utes had their best few minutes of the game late in the first half, when the Utes used a 7-1 run to make it 34-25 at the half.

During that stretch, Houston was 0 of 7 from the field and Utah was able to dictate the pace of play on both ends.

The Utes also managed to make it more of an even game after the Cougars scored 19 of the first 25 points in the second half.

But those small stretches of competitiveness against a top-five team weren’t nearly enough for Utah.

Houston ended up shooting 43.3% for the game, and had 12 second-chance points.

The Utes, meanwhile, shot 44.4% as they fought to the end. Keanu Dawes led Utah with 15 points and eight rebounds.

MILAN — The United States is “still a very welcoming place,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Tuesday at the Milan Cortina Olympics, which have been a focus of global concern about the country’s political direction.

The Republican governor faced pointed questions from European media at a news conference in Milan to promote the 2034 Utah Winter Games, exactly eight years before the opening ceremony.

The past Olympic week in Italy saw opinions on U.S. international diplomacy and domestic politics mixed liberally into the sports.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance was booed by fans at the opening ceremony; African members of the IOC quizzed organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games about visas for visitors; and U.S. athletes were asked about representing their country at this time — with President Donald Trump joining a backlash against them.

“We care deeply about the political situation that is happening in the United States right now,” Cox said, when asked by a German reporter to compare an upbeat Olympic vision from Utah with news from the U.S. shaped by Washington.

“Those are political issues that will be worked through,” the governor said, reminding that eight years until the Winter Games return to Salt Lake City is “a long ways away, for sure.”

“We have elections just like your country, in Germany. We will see how those things turn out,” said Cox, whose political style has been to promote civility over polarizing divisions.

The governor chided the media for asking U.S. athletes questions beyond sports, while adding “I love that we get to live in a country where people get to speak their minds.”

He suggested what is broadcast on the television news “isn’t the only thing happening in our country.”

“You will find it still a very welcoming place. We are a very welcoming country,” he said. “There are some differences of opinion right now when it comes to the way that laws are being enforced. That will play out.”

Cox shared the news conference with Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Utah Winter Games organizing officials including Sarah Hirshland, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Hirshland defended Hunter Hess, who Trump called a “real loser” after the freestyle skier said at a news conference he was “not the biggest fan” of all that is happening back home.

“It is important to us to ensure that anyone who is reacting to or commenting on something that someone said understands the totality and the context of what they said,” Hirshland said. “I have all the confidence in the world that every member of Team USA is proud to represent our country and understands the opportunity they have to bring people together.”

“We are all here for that and that’s exactly what we’re going to,” she said.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had plenty to say Tuesday about the state’s plans for the 2034 Winter Games to a roomful of international reporters in Milan.

But the questions they kept asking were about U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess, who said last week he had “mixed emotions” about representing his country in Italy.

The governor, part of a panel of Utah 2034 organizers gathered at the Main Press Center for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, fielded the questions.

“We love our athletes. We’re grateful for our athletes. We recognize there are lots of divisions in our country and in our world today,” Cox said. “I love that we get to live in a country where people get to speak their minds.”

He said “that’s true of athletes. It’s true of governors, it’s true of presidents, it’s true of every individual in our country. And I’m grateful for that. Again, we care about unity. We believe that this is an opportunity to bring people together.”

Cox said that “people are going to speak their minds and I’m grateful for that. I think that makes us better.”

Pressed about whether America is a welcoming place under the administration’s immigration policies, the governor said, “we care deeply about the political situation that’s happening in the United States right now. The entire world watches the United States, maybe differently than other countries, and so everything gets highlighted more outside of the United States.”

Then, he suggested journalists sparked the controversy.

“I know the media loves this stuff. It gets a lot of clicks,” Cox said. “I hate the questions you ask the athletes. These are kids out there competing. I think you should be asking them about their sports and about their competition. Let the politics take care of the politics. That will happen.”

Cox said the United States has laws that need to be enforced.

“I think that’s important. I think that’s true in every country. I certainly had to show my documents when I came here to Italy,” he said.

Urging the several dozen reporters in the room to visit Utah and see for themselves that Utah is “still a very welcoming place,” along with the rest of the U.S., Cox said concerns about immigration enforcement “are political issues that will be worked through. Eight years is a long ways away, for sure.”

Hess, 27, had told reporters at a news conference in Milan last week that “just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.,” according to a CNN report.

“It’s a little hard; there’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t,” the Bend, Oregon, resident said. “I think for me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe that are good about the U.S.”

Trump posted Sunday that Hess “says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee later responded to threats made against Hess, saying the organization’s “focus is on Hunter’s protection and on ensuring he has the support and resources in place to compete on the world’s largest stage.”

At Tuesday’s news conference, Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the Colorado Springs-based USOPC referred journalists to a recent social media post from Hess that began, “I love my country” to understand the context behind his earlier comments.

“I have all the confidence in the world that every member of Team USA is proud to represent our country and understands the opportunity to have to bring people together,” Hirshland said. “We’re all here for that.”

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – The first gold medal won by an American at the Winter Olympics in Italy was won by Rowmark Ski Academy graduate Breezy Johnson.

Johnson became just the second American woman to win the Olympic downhill, along with Lindsey Vonn in 2010. Vonn crashed earlier in the race, breaking her leg.

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“It’s been a long time coming,” Johnson said after the race. “It’s been so much work, so I’m just happy that it paid off.”

A lot of that hard work was started at the Rowland Hall Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City. Johnson attended from 2009-12, so Rowmark Academy director Per Lundstam couldn’t have been more thrilled when she took the gold.

‘I have no regrets’: Lindsey Vonn speaks out after scary crash at Winter Olympics

“That was just fantastic,” Lundstam said. “When we saw that happen, it was incredible. I have been a part of her training and her development through the years, and just to see a person close to me have that type of success and then kind of find her dreams, that was just phenomenal.”

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Rowmark has produced at least one Olympic skier in every Winter Olympics since 1988 including three medalists. Picabo Street won a silver medal in the downhill in Lillehammer in 1994 and a gold in the Super-G in Nagano in 1998, while Hilary Lindh won a silver in the downhill in 1992.

Rowmark currently has produced five graduates in these Winter Games in Italy.

“The school here has had a tremendous success through the years and through history with producing really high level athletes,” Lundstam said.

But it isn’t all skiing at Rowmark. They also have high academic standards the students need to uphold.

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“We’re pretty unique in terms of trying to balance both very high level academics and very high level athletics,” Lundstam said. “So our athletes, they have to go to school in the afternoons after they’ve been on the ski hill all day and all morning. So they know coming in that it’s a heavy load.”

And now to have a gold medalist in Johnson as a Rowmark graduate has already inspired the current students.

Big 12 fines OSU $50,000 for hateful chants at BYU

“I think it’s massive,” Lundstam said. “I think it really gives a sense of inspiration to pursue your own journey. Just walking in the corridors just this morning, athletes are smiling and they can’t believe that she did it. They’re so excited that she’s a part of us.”

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Johnson will also compete in the women’s combined alongside superstar Mikaela Shiffrin on Tuesday.

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The Utah Jazz, despite their best efforts, beat the Miami Heat with a final score of 115-111.

Utah’s tanking tactic of pulling Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jusuf Nurkic after the third quarter in favor of the youth could not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Through the first three quarters, the Jazz were led by Jackson Jr.‘s 22 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Markkanen chipped in 17 points while Jusuf Nurkic added 10 points and 16 rebounds.

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This game hurts the Jazz in the tank race, but it proves that Utah’s approach to losing games this season is no less ethical than its tanking counterparts. Unlike the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, the Jazz played their stars in back-t0-back games for the majority of the game, rather than sitting them with phantom injuries. This allows fans to watch Utah’s best players while still allowing the team to (in most cases) achieve its long-term goals.

Tonight, however, the youth stepped up in the fourth quarter to push the Jazz past Miami’s most competitive lineup. Isaiah Collier controlled the pace of the game late, finishing with 13 points and nine assists. Brice Sensabaugh, who has struggled over the past few outings, hit a big three and game-sealing free throws late. And Kyle Filipowski contributed a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Utah still holds the 6th best lottery odds after tonight. Wins from the Pelicans and the Nets mitigate any negative impacts from tonight’s win. If the lottery was today, the Jazz would own a ~96% chance of retaining their pick.

The Jazz return home on Thursday to face off against the Portland Trailblazers.