The Washington Wizards came under public scrutiny after their 21-year-old player, Bub Carrington , openly admitted that the team had told its players to hold back on the court, which can be interpreted as a confession of tanking.
Yet, Sam Amick, the senior NBA writer at The Athletic, reported that the league is not expected to investigate Carrington's statement.
"Per a source, the NBA will not discipline Wizards guard Bub Carrington (or the team) for his candid comments about tanking," Sam Amick wrote on X hours after Carrington's comments stirred a controversy among the media and fans.
The 21-year-old sat down with WUSA9 to discuss the Wizards' upcoming season when he inadvertently suggested the Wizards tanked last season to improve their odds of landing AJ Dybantsa in the 2026 NBA Draft.
"This season, I don't think it would take anything that we're not already saying. Being ourselves, like we're nice, we're talented, we're gifted individuals, all of us. We're very talented. We just haven't been told yet to go be the best version of ourselves," Carrington initially said.
When the reporter asked him to elaborate, the 21-year-old player explained that it was all to land AJ Dybantsa in the 2026 NBA Draft.
"We're like, we've all, in a way, been held back just because, as you said, we were trying to get AJ Dybantsa. That's no secret. That's no secret. But now it's no, no one has handcuffs. Everyone's shackles free," he said.
"So that alone is already a conversation starter, but then you put that on top of the coaching, on top of the vets that we have. That's a playoff team, and that's gonna happen. That's gonna happen; if not now, then when it does happen, it'll happen for a long time."
"Like whenever we get there, whether that's this year, next year, or the year after, we're gonna stay there. And that's the culture we're trying to change," Carrington added .
A key reason these comments have sparked debate on social media is that earlier this year, in February, the Utah Jazz were fined $500,000 for intentionally tanking by benching key players, and the Pacers were fined $100,000 for misrepresenting players' availability for a game .
So many people believe this incident also warrants an investigation like that. Especially given how seriously commissioner Adam Silver and the league office took cracking down on tanking last season .
Some may argue that there is a difference between benching star players altogether and asking them to throw the game when they're on the floor.
But if anything, intentionally being told to play badly is more unethical than letting your bench players get a chance. That is more blatantly anti-competitive.
Therefore, I'm also surprised the league apparently doesn't plan to investigate this matter further. It will be interesting to see whether what Amick is reporting is true and whether the Wizards get away with it.
