LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Get this through your skulls. The players don’t “tank” in the NBA.
Front offices make decisions that might intentionally set their teams on a course for losses, for better draft positions and hopefully brighter futures. Coaches can fill out lineups and execute late-game substitutions to make it tougher on their own sides to win, if indeed that is the organization’s goal.
But a basketball player, in uniform, on the court, does not try to lose.
What the Clippers’ organization pulled on Saturday against the Blazers is questionable when considering the context. Explanations about predetermined plans for load mana… excuse me, body maintenance and playoff preparation, do not trump the obvious. The No. 2 seed Clippers want the No. 1 Lakers to have to play Portland in the playoffs because they think there is a chance the Blazers could win that series.
“I don’t get involved in…
