NBA reportedly won’t discipline Wizards, Bub Carrington after guard admitted team held back to get AJ Dybantsa

The NBA cracked down on purposeful losing, otherwise known as “tanking,” last season. Back in February, the league fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for fishy roster-management behavior that NBA commissioner Adam Silver described as “overt” in its prioritization of draft position over winning.

Then, in May, the league announced its new anti-tanking rules, which will be in place for at least the 2027-29 drafts. The draft lottery will grow from 14 to 16 teams. Lottery odds will be flattened further. And, most notably, the teams with the three worst records will be penalized.

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But as much as the NBA’s trying to eliminate tanking, it’s reportedly letting an admission of the integrity-threatening practice slide ahead of the 2026-27 campaign. Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington, a 21-year-old gearing up for his third season with the organization, confessed that the Wizards didn’t give their all last season. Yet, according to a Friday report from The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the NBA won’t discipline Washington or Carrington.

“We just haven’t been told yet to go be the best version of yourself,” Carrington said in a now-viral clip from a 1-on-1 interview with Washington TV station WUSA9.

Carrington was asked to clarify what he meant.

“We’ve all, in a way, been held back. Just because … we were trying to get AJ Dybantsa.”

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Carrington continued before letting out a laugh: “That’s no secret.”

He repeated those three words again before adding, “But now, no one has handcuffs. Everyone’s shackles-free. 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. … And then when it does happen, it’ll happen for a long time.”

Really, what’s been a conversation starter is Carrington’s candor. His remarks were only surprising because he actually said what everyone was thinking.

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The Wizards recorded only 17 victories in 2025-26 — their second-fewest in single-season franchise history — before winning the No. 1 overall pick and drafting Dybantsa.

They…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-reportedly-wont-discipline-wizards-bub-carrington-after-guard-admitted-team-held-back-to-get-aj-dybantsa-172801586.html

Author : Andy Backstrom

Publish date : 2026-10-02 17:28:00

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