...the NBA has established a narrative to make everyone feel like a winner. If your team is bad, there is always the lottery. If your team is mediocre, there always is the play-in round. And if your team is good, there is the battle for seeding in the playoffs. The thing that gets lost in the entire process is that players play to win, and coaches coach to win. So if a team truly needs to or wants to tank, that is up to the front office to make sure the players most capable of helping you win do not take the court. Philadelphia on Saturday night was a prime example of that, when anyone and everyone of note was out of action. And we now are seeing more and more lottery teams decide to shut down players for the season. It’s not the right thing to do, but it’s the NBA’s way of making everyone feel like there is something better ahead.

Ira

The "NBA narrative" is the same as kids family picnic games where the dad ensures that the game ends in a tie so that every child is a winner and there are no losers.