The Washington Wizards have been doing their best to ensure they have one of the bottom three win percentages at the end of the NBA’s regular season next month, and they’ve done so excellently, joining the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers as the losingest teams in the league.
But if you want to see tanking done to its fullest extent, look no further than the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are seasoned veterans at this point. They accomplished last season what the Wizards are trying to do this season. They’ve been here. They know all the tricks.
So, when the Wizards showed up to the Delta Center on Wednesday night with eight players on their injury report, the Jazz matched their effort.
The Jazz players listed as out for the contest were Lauri Markkanen (hip impingement), Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee recovery), Walker Kessler (shoulder recovery), Jusuf Nurkić (nose recovery), Keyonte George (hamstring), Isaiah Collier (hamstring), Kyle Filipowski (illness) and Brice Sensabaugh (rest).
That’s right! Third-year wing Sensabaugh needed a rest day. Take that, Washington!
And if the injury report wasn’t enough, the Jazz also played horribly, and the Wizards improved (improved?) to 17-55 on the season with a 133-110 victory.
That’s an interesting win total. In fact, it’s the exact number of wins the Jazz had last year (17-65 on the season) when they finished with the NBA’s worst record.
As we know, having one of the three worst records gives a team the best possible odds heading into the lottery, but as we also know, those odds do not guarantee a top pick (remember, the Jazz fell to the fifth pick in the 2025 NBA Draft).
That’s just a little tidbit for any Wizards fans who might come across this story — brace yourselves and prepare for the potential to be disappointed on lottery night. After all, the odds are not in your favor.
But on Wednesday night, the Jazz needed the loss more than the Wizards did. Not because the Jazz think they’re going to be able fall any lower than fifth-worst in the standings (the four worst teams have those spots pretty locked up), but because they don’t want to improve to sixth-worst, and the Dallas Mavericks are hovering dangerously near the Jazz in the standings.
The Jazz can’t pick up wins while Dallas loses. That would make things a little too dicey heading into these final nine games.
Speaking of which, if you are one of the many Jazz fans (all of you) who are tired of this tanking and tired of watching a losing product with players who aren’t even a part of the team’s future, don’t worry, we’re almost at the finish line.
Just nine more games. Single digits. Nine.