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The practice of NBA teams losing games to increase their draft lottery odds remains widely debated.
The NBA can claim progress, and just last month presented multiple anti-tank proposals to its board of governors. But that hasn’t stopped Warriors forward Draymond Green from offering a possible tougher solution.
After the Warriors’ 110-105 victory over the Kings on Tuesday, Green urged the NBA to take a bolder stance on issuing teams to tank.
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“I think I get fined when I do wrong,” Green said. “Just fine people a lot. We love getting money from players, keep fining teams. I’ve seen two fines. And we all know that everyone is failing. But you’ve seen two fines.”
November 15, 2024; San Francisco, California, United States; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) discusses a call with referee Brian Forte (45) during the third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center. (D. Ross Cameron/Image Image)
Green’s comments appeared to reference the recent fines the NBA imposed on the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers. The league ruled that the Jazz committed “conduct detrimental to the league” after several key players were removed late in two games in February.
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 it is suspected of going under.
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“If it were players (the league) would have taken that money in a heartbeat,” Green continued. “Why isn’t it the same? Everybody loves money. The punishment for players is always, let’s take the money. Well, now it’s time to punish teams and suddenly nobody doesn’t know what to do. Why not? We know exactly what to do when someone gets a technical foul. Or gets suspended for a game. We know exactly what to do.”
A basketball is placed on the court next to the 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 renewed debate about how to break the stalemate, as teams with slim playoff hopes appeared to look to top prospects in this summer’s draft.
“Suddenly we had problems with the equipment, we don’t know what to do,” Green added. “What happened to the whole taking-the-money thing? Everyone else is trying to hit a quota, too. But when it comes to player discipline, we want to grab the money as quickly as we can. When it comes to team discipline and we see 12 teams failing, we’ve seen two fines. If my math serves me correctly, that’s ten that haven’t been fined. Just some quick math. It could be wrong, so don’t judge me if it’s wrong.
“But we don’t keep the same energy when it comes to teams, when it comes to officials, when it comes to everyone but the players, we don’t keep the same energy. But this is a players’ league.”
Before talking about the tank, Green talked about the Play-In tournament, a concept widely credited to NBA commissioner Adam Silver. The format was designed, in part, with the goal of stopping gridlock.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks during the press conference at the NBA Emirates Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Kirby Lee/Image Images)
“I think it worked initially, and now having a team stuck in 10th place is not working,” Green said. “So we could have lost our last 15 games and been stuck in 10th place, it’s not working. It worked for a while, but if you can get stuck in 10th and lose the last 15 games of your season, and you can get stuck in 10th, it’s not working.”
Golden State enters Wednesday in 10th place in the Western Conference standings and has clinched a spot in the Play-In. Green recalled what the format was designed to do when it was first introduced.
“I think the Play-In was made so that the teams don’t collapse,” he said. “I think that’s the part that everyone forgets. The Play-In came about to get teams like 12th or 13th place going. They didn’t continue. They kind of slowed down and then 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 deep playoff run as a true contender.
“When you go out to a game that you need 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 thinking, man, we have this Play-In next week, I have to rest. No, it’s not that exciting.”
