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The practice of NBA teams losing games to increase their lottery draft chances continues to be the subject of much debate.
The NBA can claim progress, and last month it presented several anti-tank proposals to its board of governors. But that didn’t stop Warriors forward Draymond Green from offering a more difficult solution.
After the Warriors’ 110-105 victory over the Kings on Tuesday, Green urged the NBA to take a bolder stance when it comes to building tanking teams.
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“I think I get fined when I make a mistake,” Green said. “Great for the people. We like to take money from players, keep fining teams. I’ve seen two fines. And we all know everyone’s tanking. But you’ve seen two fines.”
November 15, 2024; San Francisco, California, United States; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) argues a call with referee Brian Forte (45) during the third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center. (D. Ross Cameron/Imagn Image)
Green’s comments appeared to reference the NBA’s recent fines against the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers. The league ruled that the Jazz engaged in “conduct detrimental to the league” after several high-profile players were removed at the end of two February games.
Utah was fined $500,000. The Pacers were fined $100,000 for violating the NBA’s player participation policy during an early February game against the Jazz. Green is pushing for the league to fine teams more aggressively when tanking is suspected.
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“If it were players, (the league) would have made that money back in a heartbeat,” Green continued. “Why isn’t it the same? Everyone likes money. The punishment for players is always: Let’s take the money. Well, now it’s time to punish the teams and all of a sudden no one knows what to do. Why not? We know exactly what to do when someone commits a technical foul. Or gets suspended for a game. We know exactly what to do.”
A basketball is placed on the court next to an NBA logo during a break in the first half of a 2023 NBA Summer League game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 7, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The latter part of the 2025-26 season sparked a new debate over how to curb tanking, as teams with fading playoff hopes appeared to have the best prospects in this summer’s draft.
“All of a sudden we had team problems, we don’t know what to do,” Green added. “What happened to the whole money-taking thing? Everyone is trying to hit a quota too. But when it comes to player discipline, we want to get the money back as quickly as possible. When it comes to team discipline and we see 12 teams tanking, we’ve seen two fines. If my math is correct, that’s ten who haven’t been fined. Just some quick math. That could be wrong, so don’t tell me Don’t judge if it’s false.
“But we don’t keep the same energy when it comes to teams, when it comes to officials, when it comes to everyone except the players, we don’t keep the same energy. But it’s a league of players.”
Before addressing tanking, Green weighed in on Tournament Play-In, a concept widely attributed to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The format was designed, in part, with the aim of curbing tanking.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks during a press conference during the Emirates NBA Cup Finals at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
“I think it worked at first, and now to have a team stuck in 10th place, it’s not working,” Green said. “So we could have lost our last 15 games and been stuck in 10th place, that doesn’t work. It worked a little bit, but if you can be stuck in 10th place and lose the last 15 games of your season, and you can be stuck in 10th place, it doesn’t work.”
Golden State enters Wednesday in 10th place in the Western Conference standings and has clinched a Play-In berth. Green recalled what the format was designed to do when it was introduced.
“I think the Play-In was designed so that teams wouldn’t tank,” he said. “I think that’s the part that everyone forgets. The Play-In was created to allow teams like maybe up to 12 or 13 to continue. They don’t continue. They slowed down a little bit, and then they hit the brakes.”
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Green, who spent his entire career with the Warriors and won four NBA titles, recognized the stark contrast between preparing for the Play-In tournament and a playoff run as a true contender.
“You go on the road in a game you have to win. I think as a competitor you’re going to rise to the challenge,” the four-time All-Star said. “But I’m not going to sleep (Wednesday) night, man, we have this Play-In next week, I need to rest. No, it’s not that exciting.”
