Sports
Adam Silver Faces Mounting Pressure as NBA Tanking Problem Grows
Once considered the best commissioner in all of sports, Adam Silver faced more questions than he had answers for at the NBA All-Star Weekend.
Silver has a low bar to clear – as Roger Goodell’s fascination with global expansion in the NFL outweigh his interest in consistent officiating of league discipline for off-field matters. Rob Manfed is in a league of his own, especially if baseball isn’t played in 2027 due to the looming MLB lockout.
But the NBA is facing many of their own challenges. During NBA All-Star Weekend, Silver was peppered with questions about expansion, which doesn’t seem any closer to happening. But more significantly, he was asked about the league’s growing tanking issue.
Over the weekend, Miami Heat two-way player Keshad Johnson won the dunk contest by default, and Damian Lillard won the three-point competition despite not suiting up for a single game with the Portland Trail Blazers yet this season. But tanking is a bigger issue than the lack of buzz or excitement around the NBA’s All-Star festivities.
Right now, a third of the NBA is completely non-competitive.
In the Eastern Conference, the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls are in the Play-In Tournament slots despite records under .500. Out west, five teams have 20 wins or less.
The race to the bottom has been aggressive. While the 2026 NBA Draft class has coveted prospects including Kansas superstar Darryn Peterson and BYU star AJ Dybantsa, only two teams are going to select those players.
According to The Athletic, Silver is willing to threaten removing the NBA Draft altogether, allowing an entire rookie class to enter free agency. While drastic times call for drastic measures, abolishing the draft would likely be frowned upon by the NBA Player’s Association as well as small market teams that would always have a difficult time competing for premier rookies.
The truth is, Silver has no solution to fix the league’s tanking epidemic. The NBA can fine teams until they are blue in the face – these billionaire owners have plenty of money.
Back in the day, teams would strategically tank by assembling teams that had no business on an NBA court. But in modern day? Teams are shutting stars down left and right to load up their probability for the NBA Draft lottery. There’s no reason for the Utah Jazz to have shut down Jaren Jackson Jr., who they had just played for. The Milwaukee Bucks shouldn’t be allowed to shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Some could argue that the Oklahoma City Thunder, who look primed to be the NBA’s next dynasty, are a product of tanking. But those were bad rosters. They weren’t willingly shutting down superstars.
The NBA is a wildly popular league with the youth. That’s the good news for Silver, who has done a great job appealing to younger fans utilizing social media. But is that younger demographic actually interacting with full games, which is the NBA’s core business?
Silver has to find a way to keep superstars on the floor. Then once they’re on the court, they need to be competing with full effort in the league’s way-too-long 82 game season. From there, he needs to figure out how to stop teams from intentionally tanking seasons, because it turns into an endless pattern.
Does that much losing really serve the fans? For what? A better draft pick?
They have to figure this out with no clear solution. Good luck, Silver.
Sports
Report: Lindsey Vonn out of hospital, returning to U.S.
Feb 6, 2026; Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITALY; Lindsey Vonn of the United States in women’s downhill training during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images Lindsey Vonn was discharged from a hospital in Italy on Sunday morning and headed to the airport to return to the United States, Reuters reported.
Vonn was admitted to Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso after a devastating crash in the women’s downhill at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Feb. 8. The 41-year-old had come out of retirement to race in the Winter Games.
She has had four surgeries on her injured left leg since the crash. It occurred when her arm hooked around a gate, sending her flying into the snow and causing a complex tibia fracture just 13 seconds into the race.
Vonn was competing through a torn ACL in her left knee sustained nine days prior to her event in the final tune-up race at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, the latest hurdle in an injury-plagued career that saw her win three Olympic medals (one gold) and more than 80 World Cup races before initially retiring in 2019. Vonn appeared to still be in medal contention, finishing with the third-best time in the final training run.
She had been striving to become the oldest Alpine skiing medalist in Winter Olympics history. She won two downhill races on the World Cup circuit this season and finished on the podium in three others.
It is unclear if she will need to be hospitalized in the United States or whether she will face additional surgeries.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Vonn said she welcomed being able to return home but was reflective about the race that put her in the hospital. And she vowed to return to the slopes.
“I have been reading a lot of messages and comments saying that what has happened to me makes them sad. Please, don’t be sad. Empathy, love and support I welcome with an open heart, but please not sadness or sympathy. I hope instead it gives you strength to keep fighting, because that is what I am doing and that is what I will continue to do. Always,” she said in her lengthy message.
“When I think back on my crash, I didn’t stand in the starting gate unaware of the potential consequences. I knew what I was doing. I chose to take a risk. Every skier in that starting gate took the same risk. Because even if you are the strongest person in the world, the mountain always holds the cards.
“… So please, don’t feel sad. The ride was worth the fall. When I close my eyes at night I don’t have regrets and the love I have for skiing remains. I am still looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more. And I will.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Netherlands' Femke Kok takes speed skating 500m gold; Erin Jackson 5th
Femke Kok of the Netherlands in action with Erin Jackson of the United States during the women’s 500m at the Winter Games in Milan on Sunday. Kok won the gold medal.
MILAN — World record holder Femke Kok asserted her dominance in the women’s 500 meters to win Winter Olympics gold and deliver the Netherlands a second speed skating title at the Milan Cortina Games on Sunday.
Kok finished second behind Jutta Leerdam in the 1,000m on Monday but swapped places with her compatriot on the podium in the 500m.
Miho Takagi, Japan’s most decorated female Olympian, won the bronze to take her medal tally to nine over four Games.
Floridian Erin Jackson, who made history four years ago as the first Black woman to win a Winter Olympic gold in an individual sport, finished fifth-fastest.
Winner of the last three world championship golds in the 500m, Kok tore through the distance in an Olympic record time of 36.49 seconds, finishing 0.66 seconds clear of Leerdam.
It was the 25-year-old sprint specialist’s first Olympic gold medal in her second Games.
All eyes were on the 15th and final pairing where Kok, in the outside lane, was pitched against defending champion Jackson.
Jackson initially gained a slight edge that forced Kok to chase but the Dutchwoman unleashed a ferocious final surge as a sea of orange-clad supporters in the stands roared her home.
The Dutch now have eight medals in speed skating at Milan Cortina: two golds, five silvers and a bronze.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
Why Cade Cunningham MVP Could Be Smart Bet Amid SGA Injury Concerns
To combat star players sitting out, the NBA instituted a 65-game minimum for postseason award eligibility. With the influx of injuries to star players we’re seeing each year, this rule opens the door to other players winning awards in years they might not deserve them.
This season, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is starting to create some distance between himself and the other candidates. SGA is currently a -220 favorite with Nikola Jokic the only other player close by at +300.
Jokic is having an MVP-caliber season, generating career highs in both rebounds and assists. Unfortunately, after missing over a month with a knee injury, he can only miss one game and still be eligible for MVP. However, Jokic has been a bit of an ironman, playing fewer than 70 games only once prior in his career.
He only has a one-game buffer to stay eligible for MVP, but before the All-Star break, Gilgeous-Alexander went down with an abdominal strain. He’s going to be reevaluated after the break, so I’m assuming he won’t be out for too long, but abdominal issues can be tricky.
The Thunder can be on cruise control the rest of the season and still easily lock up a top-two seed in the West, so if this injury lingers, SGA could push the games missed limit as well. He’s already missed six games this year, so now might be a great time to bet on someone who’s a long shot to win the MVP.
Detroits Cade Cunningham has arrived on the scene this year as an All-NBA first team favorite. The Pistons have been the story of the season, shocking the league with the best winning percentage in the NBA at the All-Star break.
Cade does have an All-Star teammate in Jalen Duren, but this isn’t an incredibly deep Pistons roster. His ability to elevate everyone around him and turn this team into an NBA Finals contender is the most impressive thing happening in the league. He currently has the third-highest MVP odds with Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown, and Victor Wembanyama trailing closely behind.
Wemby and Doncic are close to the limit for missed games, and they could also be in similar situations as the favorites, real soon. Jaylen Brown or even Donovan Mitchell are two other guys to keep in mind as long shots, especially if they can figure out how to chase down the Pistons before the season ends.
Nevertheless, if Cade, Mitchell, and Brown stay healthy, the narrative surrounding the Pistons far outweighs anything from the Celtics and definitely the Cavs. The counting stats might not be the most impressive for Cunningham, but I’m not sure any player is more vital to his team’s success than he is, and isn’t that exactly what an MVP should be?
SGA might miss minimal time due to his injury; however, if this issue lingers, you can buy Cade MVP stock for pennies on the dollar.
Report: Lindsey Vonn out of hospital, returning to U.S.
Netherlands' Femke Kok takes speed skating 500m gold; Erin Jackson 5th
