Day one of the NCAA tournament tipped off today, and I can already hear brackets crumbling everywhere. In the NBA, unfortunately, things have been crumbling for several teams for a while, and right now, you can see those teams piling upt the bottom of the standings, finding new ways to tank.
So let’s take a look at some of the most entertaining ways NBA teams are embracing the tank, with less than a month to go before the playoffs.
Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn ImagesGiannis Wants to Play, Bucks Don’t
The Milwaukee Bucks are home to one of the best players in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo. But since winning the NBA championship in 2021, they haven’t been able to build a team around him that can even sniff the Conference Finals.
Over the last three years, they’ve been bounced in the first round of the playoffs, and this year, they’re on track to miss the postseason entirely.
They’re currently seven games back of a play-in spot with just 11 games to go. They also hold the swap rights on the worst pick between them and the New Orleans Pelicans, both likely lottery teams. And Giannis has already been eliminated from regular-season award contention after falling short of the 65-game requirement.
So yeah, there’s not much for the Bucks to play for, no real reason to risk the future of the franchise, or Giannis himself.
Giannis has appeared in just 36 games this season, missing significant time with multiple injuries. Then on March 17, the Bucks announced he’d be out at least a week with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise.
The only upside to that injury? The timing. It gives Milwaukee a perfect excuse to shut him down for the rest of the year, something they’ve reportedly wanted to do.
But, um… Giannis said no.
He’s pushed back on the idea, making it clear he wants to return.
There have been multiple meetings over Antetokounmpo's status in the last 24 hours since his hyperextended knee diagnosis, and a disagreement has ensued between the sides on whether it is best for him to return, sources said. t.co/cuNJBJNQQf
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 18, 2026“Giannis, though, has refused [the Milwaukee Bucks] wanting to shut him down,” reported Shams Charania of ESPN. “He has made it clear to the Bucks’ general manager and staff that he will not shut himself down. He intends to return to play this season.”
Not that the Bucks have won much even with Giannis, but in their tank battle with the Chicago Bulls, the former MVP might not help much anyway. Still, this kind of tension only adds more fuel to the Giannis trade saga that everyone assumes is coming this offseason.
Just in on NBA Today — the Bucks and Giannis are in disagreement about his future, again: pic.twitter.com/u5PFYZBtmO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 18, 2026 @ Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn ImagesIndiana Pacers 0-15 Since All-Star Break
The reigning NBA Eastern Conference champions, and somehow the worst team in the NBA by record, are on a losing streak as long as their total win count this season.
The Indiana Pacers haven’t won a game since the All-Star break and are riding a 15-game losing streak, the longest active streak in the league. It’s also the longest skid in franchise history, and honestly, there’s no real sign of it slowing down.
At this point, it’s hard to see them winning again until maybe April, or even at all before the season ends.
And the pressure to keep losing? It’s very real.
Indiana’s 2026 first-round pick is top-four protected. If it lands at No. 5, which is very much in play, it goes to the Los Angeles Clippers. So every win right now could actually hurt more than it helps.
This is clearly a throwaway year for the Pacers, who got hit with brutal injury luck and lost key pieces in free agency. But with the retooling they did at the trade deadline, and the possibility of landing the first No. 1 pick in franchise history, they might not be down for long.
Give it a minute, Indiana could be right back at the top of the mountain before we even realize it.
@ Vincent Carchietta-Imagn ImagesBrooklyn Nets Set an Embarrassing Franchise Record
Last night, on March 18, the Brooklyn Nets set a franchise record against the OKC Thunder, and it only took one half to do it.
By halftime, the Nets had scored just 24 points. Yes, 24 points in 24 minutes. That’s the lowest mark this season, the worst in franchise history, the second-lowest first-half total in NBA history, and the fourth-lowest scoring half by any team, ever.
Meanwhile, the Thunder had already dropped 60 and built a 36-point lead—with an entire half still left to play.
OKC HELD BROOKLYN TO 24 PTS IN A SINGLE HALF ?Brooklyn’s 24-point first half matches its lowest in the play-by-play era (1997-98). pic.twitter.com/fIEq85ygBR
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 19, 2026It was so rough that people were already using it as evidence against league expansion, arguing the talent across the current 30 NBA teams isn’t even evenly distributed.
Let’s definitely add 2 more teams pic.twitter.com/BKMEap1jJX
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 19, 2026The Nets now hold the third-worst record in the league and sit just two losses away from dead last, and at this point, they look fully committed to getting there.
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