Sir Charles in Charge
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New York Knicks: Revisiting the tanking question

By Jonathan Macri

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 15: Tim Hardaway Jr. #3 of the New York Knicks celebrates after he hit a three point shot in the final minutes of the game against the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2017 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 15: Tim Hardaway Jr. #3 of the New York Knicks celebrates after he hit a three point shot in the final minutes of the game against the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2017 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 19: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts in the second quarter against the Brooklyn Nets during their game at Barclays Center on November 19, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 19: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts in the second quarter against the Brooklyn Nets during their game at Barclays Center on November 19, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Ultimate Glory

Golden State is a popular team to bring up in pro-tanking circles. Specifically, tankers point to 2011-12. The common narrative is that the Warriors intentionally bottomed out during a season in which they started 20-26, and that this tank job set them up for the run they’re still enjoying now.

What isn’t often mentioned is that several things conspired to make it a golden opportunity for the Warriors, starting with Steph Curry’s balky right ankle, which was a legitimate injury that required surgery. Golden State was 13-13 when Curry played and 10-30 when he didn’t (teams only played 66 games that year due to the lockout).

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The Warriors finally shut Curry down for good in early March, then traded Monta Ellis for an injured Andrew Bogut three days later. Golden State slowly descended into tank mode from there, losing 17 of their last 20 games while starting the likes of Charles Jenkins, Mickell Gladness (a real person, I swear) and Monta’s replacement, rookie Klay Thompson.

For their efforts, Golden State was rewarded with the seventh pick in the draft and selected…Harrison Barnes. Do the Warriors win a title without Barnes? Maybe, maybe not. Is their fate any different if they won a few more games and take Mo Harkless – the next combo forward on the board – instead? Who knows.

That’s not the point.

The point is that circumstances opened the door for the Warriors to start losing games at a point that made sense for everyone in the organization. Curry was down, Monta’s time had come, Golden State was 13th in the West…it just made sense.

If, instead of Curry getting hurt, he was doing his jitterbug act for a team making its first playoff run, would it have made sense to intentionally go into the toilet? The Warriors still point to their 2013 playoff series against San Antonio as the moment they knew they could compete with anyone in the league. What would have happened if that seminal series had come a year earlier?

Even after the Spurs series, no one thought Golden State was ready to make a leap. Hell, the next year they were ousted in the first round to the Clippers following the Donald Sterling fiasco. Some Warriors fans were probably wondering if they wouldn’t have been better served tanking one more season.

Maybe by being too good, too soon, the Warriors had relegated themselves to the NBA’s upper middle class for the foreseeable future. Heading into their first championship season, Zach Lowe had them in his tier just below his five contenders.

The rest is history.

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