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Blame the NBA for Tanking, Not the Utah Jazz

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Blame the NBA for Tanking, Not the Utah Jazz


After two straight games of deliberately resting starters in the fourth quarter of action against the Atlanta Hawks and most recently, the Orlando Magic, for their past two losses, the Utah Jazz are sitting at the forefront of the NBA’s “tanking” discussion.

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While it’s a loaded conversation, it’s also an incredibly hypocritical one considering that the three best teams in the league right now by record— the Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons, and San Antonio Spurs— all built their rosters on the backs of the very evil we’re talking about.

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This isn’t saying that the NBA shouldn’t look at ways to prevent this issue going forward, but rather they should look for ways to incentivize winning, as opposed to punishing losing.

Tanking

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Feb 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) walks past Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Let’s make this abundantly clear: any team purposefully hurting their chances of winning games in the short term is guilty.

Throw the term “ethical tanking” out the window, because regardless of the path a team takes, the goal is the same. There’s no moral high ground in this conversation.

Tanking goes against the competitive spirit of sports. After all, the goal of sports is to win, so at its surface, teams trying to be bad is antithetical. However, with how major American sports leagues are geared towards competitive balance, it makes sense for teams looking for high-end talent to try to find that through the draft.

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But tanking has been around forever, and it’s not worth going through the endless examples.

Current Model

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Feb 21, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and guard Ben Simmons (25) talk against the Toronto Raptors during the first quarter at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

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In an effort to discourage teams from this (thanks, Sam Hinkie), the NBA flattened the lottery odds and now draws the first 4 spots in the event. This has had unintended consequences, though.

Last year, the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, who were the two worst teams by record, ended up picking fifth and sixth in the draft, while the Mavericks, who were one more play-in win away from making the playoffs, jumped past 10 teams with a worse record than them to land the already sensational Cooper Flagg. The Spurs, who’d picked in the top four the previous two years, jumped from 8th to 2nd in the order.

The result? Bad teams are forced to stay bad for longer in an attempt to get the high-end talent they’d hoped for, or simply being unable to take the step toward contention, even if they tried. It also incentivizes more teams, especially those on the fringes of the play-in tournament, to about-face and give themselves a better chance at winning the lottery, when otherwise only the worst teams would be battling it out.

This year, there are already at least seven teams that are jockeying for lottery position, and that doesn’t include the New Orleans Pelicans, who can’t get out of the cellar. It’s early February! We still have over a third of the season to go, and more teams have punted than ever.

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The other issue with the new lottery system is that it forces teams to worry more about their “floor” because there’s a significant chance that teams will backslide in the order.

Jazz Discussion

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Feb 7, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Utah Jazz center Jaren Jackson Jr. (20) shoots during the second half against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

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Lastly, let’s talk about the Jazz, because they are very much tanking to keep their pick this year. They owe a top-eight protected pick to the reigning champions, meaning if the Jazz land one through eight in the draft order, they’ll keep their pick, and if it’s outside of that window, it goes to OKC.

This is the last year that the pick is owed before the pick debt is extinguished. Frankly, it makes zero sense for the Jazz to give away a premium asset when they can prevent it, so that is what they’ll do.

The reason the Jazz are talked about is because they have talent on their roster. Lauri Markkanen is an All-Star caliber player, while Keyonte George is already knocking on the door in his third season. If Walker Kessler hadn’t injured his shoulder, the Jazz probably would’ve been a play-in caliber team this year and unavoidably conveyed the pick.

After trading for Jaren Jackson Jr. this past week, however, the Jazz are once again under the watchful eye of many. The Jazz are talented, poised for a surge up the standings next season, but also young and have a record of 16-37 and 9 games out of the last play-in spot.

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Their options for this year are: strategically keep their pick by putting their young players in uncomfortable positions to develop, or they could push for the play-in, come up short, and give a top-10 pick to the reigning champions for nothing.

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Hard decision, right?

Bottom Line

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Feb 3, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Utah Jazz forward/center Lauri Markkanen (23) dribbles the ball in the first half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The NBA does have a tanking problem. It’s bad for the product when a quarter of the league is attempting to lose games; however, they have nobody to blame but themselves for the way things are structured.

For the morality police of “ethical tanking,” take a look in the mirror, because in all likelihood, your team would be, is, or has done the same thing that the Jazz are doing right now.

Frankly, each team should do what they deem as the best long-term plan for them, and that’s what the Utah Jazz, and the rest of the teams around the association fighting for draft position, are doing.

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Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon

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Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon


A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.

He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.

MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche

In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.

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“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.

A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas


CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.

LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.

Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.

The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.

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MORE | Murder-Suicide

Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.

10:33 a.m. — Call 1

After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.

Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.

“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”

11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3

As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.

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“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”

11:26 a.m. — Call 4

Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.

“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”

She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.

Police indicated officers were on the way.

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2:26 p.m. — Call 5

Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.

Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.

“They found a note on the door.”

2:35 p.m. — Call 6

Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.

“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”

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A dispatcher responded:

“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”

2:36 p.m. — Call 7

Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:

“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”

2:39 p.m. — Call 8

Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.

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“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”

He repeats the details he knows for the second time.

3:13 p.m. — Call 9

Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.

“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”

Dispatch responded:

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“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”

4:05 p.m. — Call 10

More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.

“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”

The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.

Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.

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The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.

5:23 p.m. — Call 11

Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.

“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”

She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.

Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference

Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.

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The investigation remains ongoing.

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing


AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”

Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.

“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.

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Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.

“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.

2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:

  • Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
  • Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
  • Does it support a ban from classrooms?

Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.

“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.

MORE | Utah State Legislature:

Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.

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“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.

“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.

The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.

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