Kevin Durant Gets Incredibly Honest About Teams Tanking For Victor Wembanyama

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant has a unique take on teams tanking for Wembanyama

Joey Linn | Jan 7, 2023

Kevin Durant Gets Incredibly Honest About Teams Tanking For Victor Wembanyama /

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Brooklyn Nets

There is almost zero question who with go first-overall in the next NBA draft. French superstar Victor Wembanyama is widely expected to be the top pick, and for good reason. The NBA has never seen a player like Wembanyama, and whatever team that has the opportunity to select him will be immediately adding a franchise player.

Because of the hype around Wembanyama, there may be a greater emphasis on tanking this season than ever before. Teams with little to no chance at making the playoffs feel they would be better off gunning for the top pick than reducing their odds by picking up a few extra meaningless wins.

In an exclusive interview with ESPN's Nick Friedell, Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant was asked if there is an issue with teams taking for Victor Wembanyama, and was very honest with his answer.

"Nah, teams have been tanking for a minute," Durant said. "What, you're going to force them to be competitive? I don't see a problem with it, because each year there's only a few teams that can win it anyway. So the rest of the league is trying to figure out where they are. And that's pretty smart business if you're a team and you know you're not going to be a playoff team or play-in team, you might as well try to play for [the No. 1 pick]. You might as well try to get some of the guys who probably won't get real rotation minutes if you have a good team, get them some reps and maybe those guys can change their lives as well."

Seeing the potential positives with this approach, as well as the logic that many front offices follow, Durant does not have a big problem with tanking. With a player like Wembanyama on the line, several are happier with losses than wins this season.

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Published Jan 7, 2023

JOEY LINN

Title: Credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation Email: joeylinn32@sbcglobal.net Education: Communication Studies degree from Biola University Location: Los Angeles, California Expertise: NBA analysis, insight, and reporting Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Receiving a media credential during the 2021-22 season, Joey has experience interviewing NBA players, and developing exclusive stories from these interviews. Having appeared on several different NBA podcasts over the last four seasons, Joey is now hosting his own podcast for The Sporting Tribune. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Now graduated, Joey is covering the NBA full-time across multiple platforms. Credentialed by the Clippers, Joey covers the team daily with articles, podcasts, and video breakdowns on YouTube. With four years of sports media experience, Joey provides expert insight and analysis for NBA fans across the league.

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