Brad Stevens discusses NBA’s tanking problem

The NBA has a tanking problem, but that’s no secret. 

The bigger secret is how the league is going to fix it, and on Tuesday, Celtics president Brad Stevens presented his view on the case. 

“I'm a huge proponent of doing everything to make sure that every night is as competitive as humanly possible,” Stevens said. “We have the best players in the world. And I think that it's important to let them be that on that stage.

Stevens and the Celtics have not been part of the problem that has plagued the NBA since the berth of the draft lottery. That said, Boston has benefited from going up against the bottom of the league that has no interest in playing a competitive game. 

Just last Friday, the Celtics throttled a Milwaukee team that is reportedly holding out a healthy Giannis Antetokounmpo to protect a potential haul it could receive for the star player. 

It wasn't just the Celtics earning a blowout win either. According to the Associated Press' Tim Reynolds, Friday was the second time in league history where there was at least nine games played and the average margin of victory was at least 24 points.

The other happened five days earlier on March 29.

The Bucks aren’t in contention for the No. 1 pick, but there are numerous teams this year doing everything in their control to sink to the bottom. Whether it's the Utah Jazz or Washington Wizards, there are more teams than the NBA probably wishes went into every game with the idea of losing. 

Stevens didn’t have specifics for how he would solve the tanking issue, but he does hope the league is working towards both short and long term solutions. 

“There are a lot of discussions going on about how to best focus on that, both in the near term and the long term,” Stevens said. “And maybe there is a near term solution that is a stop gap before a longer term solution when people have more time to really think about and break it down.” 

Once the postseason starts in two weeks, the competitiveness and physicality that the team’s will raise will make the tanking problem all the more clear. While it may make many nights easy for the better teams in the NBA throughout the winter, it certainly doesn’t help the playoff teams get ready for a physical run towards a title. 

Just look at the Celtics postseason run in 2025. Boston went up against a tough, physical Orlando team that took its pound of flesh despite bowing out in five games. The Cs weren’t ready to go, and in turn got upset by the Knicks in the second round. 

A more competitive regular season may have had the Celtics more ready to go, and certainly more battle tested to compete with the Knicks better. 

Stevens seems to agree with the fact that the NBA’s regular season needs to mean more on a night-to-night basis. 

“From my own perspective, I think it's really important … because we're about to embark on these playoffs, and there's nothing like that,” Stevens said. “There's nothing like the competitiveness and the energy and the talent that you see on the court in these playoffs, and the more that we can get every game to be incredibly meaningful to every team is really important.”