Tanking is ruining NBA basketball. Can math save it?

Published on May 18, 2026

Evan Munro, Assistant Professor of Econometrics and Statistics, joins Scientific American to explore how the NBA can alleviate tanking in a season where numerous teams seemed to purposefully lose in hopes of having a better spot in the next draft.

Munro believes that using a draft to foster a more competitive league for worse teams will always lead to some amount of tanking. Despite this, there is believe among Munroe and his partner that there are alternatives. 

Read more about those alternatives and the issues causing tanking at the Scientific American website. 

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