{"id":895576,"date":"2026-03-30T07:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/pacers-president-pushes-back-on-tanking-accusations-after-indianas-100000-fine\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T07:27:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:27:30","slug":"pacers-president-pushes-back-on-tanking-accusations-after-indianas-100000-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/pacers-president-pushes-back-on-tanking-accusations-after-indianas-100000-fine\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacers President Pushes Back on \u2018Tanking\u2019 Accusations After Indiana\u2019s $100,000 Fine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The Indiana Pacers were one of the teams, along with the Utah Jazz, to be fined $100,000 for perceived tanking.<\/p>\n<p>The Jazz were fined $50,0000, and the NBA released a statement saying both franchises were penalized for \u201cconduct detrimental to the league\u201d as the main reason.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_987764\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-987764\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/nba-player-guessing-game\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/28014741\/NBA-Player-Guessing-Game.png\" alt=\"Come test your knowledge and see if you can guess the NBA player!\" width=\"970\" height=\"250\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-987764\">The NBA Player Guessing Game allows you to guess the NBA player based on clues about their team, division, height, jersey number, points, and experience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Indiana Pacers President Drops Blunt Response to Tanking Allegations<\/h2>\n<p>Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the President of the Pacers\u2019 basketball operations, Kevin Pritchard, set the record straight on the tanking accusations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes, \u201ctanking\u201d can be misinterpreted by developing the younger players. We say the G-League is a great place, and it is\u2026but there is nothing like true NBA game speed. Thanks, Rooster. Keep up the great work.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Sometimes \u201ctanking\u201d can be misinterpreted by developing the younger players. We say the Gleague is a great place and it is\u2026but there is nothing like true nba game speed. Thanks Rooster. Keep up the great work.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kevin Pritchard (@PacersKev) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PacersKev\/status\/2023813084985557313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">February 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Pritchard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PacersKev\/status\/2023813084985557313?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">comments<\/a> come as a response to Mark Cuban\u2019s take on tanking. The Pacers were found in the spotlight for the wrong reasons after resting key players in their recent game, while the NBA believed the players should have laced up. Ahead of their matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, their marquee stars were on the sidelines.<\/p>\n<p>As it stands, the Pacers are among the five teams with fewer than 20 wins this season at the All-Star break. They join the East\u2019s Washington Wizards, the Nets, the Sacramento Kings, and the New Orleans Pelicans as the league\u2019s worst-placed teams this season.<\/p>\n<p>It is worth noting that if Indiana has picks Nos. 1-4 in the upcoming draft, it retains those picks. But given their recent trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, they lose their first-round pick if it falls in the 5-9 range, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indystar.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/pacers\/2026\/02\/17\/mark-cuban-tanking-in-nba-indiana-pacers-draft-lottery-kevin-pritchard\/88723047007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">IndyStar<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In related news, NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke about the league monitoring teams for tanking. \u201cOvert behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition, and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,\u201d Silver remarked.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/nba\/chris-paul-on-the-best-organization-he-played-for\/\">Chris Paul Gets Candid About the \u2018Best Organization\u2019 He Played for Throughout His NBA Career<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The trade deadline saw the Paces acquire Ivica Zubac, the Clippers\u2019 longest-tenured player, to add more teeth to their defense. A reliable big with seasoned rim protection skills and handy offense, Zubac, with the team\u2019s stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, make for an intriguing trio next season.<\/p>\n<p>Indiana is well out of playoff reckoning after their stellar NBA Finals run last season. With Haliburton expected to return for the next edition, the Pacers will be keen to shake off the tanking tag that sees them cop immense flak this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/nba\/pacers-president-on-accusations-fine\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Indiana Pacers were one of the teams, along with the Utah Jazz, to be fined $100,000 for perceived tanking. The Jazz were fined $50,0000, and the NBA released a statement saying both franchises were penalized for \u201cconduct detrimental to the league\u201d as the main reason. The NBA Player Guessing Game allows you to guess<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":895577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27128,851],"tags":[61232,6180],"class_list":{"0":"post-895576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pacers","8":"category-president","9":"tag-pacers","10":"tag-president"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}