{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/f66edc52-c9ac-4e17-bf90-6f1121579b75/69a92cee618d0d8bf7fbcc83?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"The NBA's Tanking Problem Has a Mathematical Solution — But Owners Won't Like It | On The Ball with Ric Bucher","description":"<p>Is the NBA draft lottery rigged to reward losing? Veteran NBA insider <strong>Ric Bucher</strong> sits down with <strong>Dr. TJ Highley</strong>, Associate Professor of Math &amp; Computer Science at LaSalle University, who has developed a groundbreaking anti-tanking formula that could change the NBA forever — and it doesn't involve eliminating the draft.</p><p>Highley's <strong>COLA (Carryover Lottery Allocation)</strong> system strips tanking of its incentive by rewarding <em>playoff history</em> instead of regular season losses. Teams would accumulate lottery tickets over time based on sustained failure — not deliberate losing — making intentional tanking mathematically pointless.</p><p>But Bucher pushes back with 30 years of hard-won NBA knowledge: not every owner <em>wants</em> to win. Some — following the Donald Sterling playbook — are perfectly content selling hope while pocketing profits. Can any formula fix that?</p><p>Plus: Bucher delivers a candid reassessment of the <strong>Denver Nuggets</strong> title chances and why the Michael Porter Jr. trade may have cost them more than anyone realized — rebounding. And a sharp takedown of the analytics crowd that thinks they've cracked the code on building a championship team.</p><p><br></p><h2>⏱️ TIMESTAMPS</h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> — Intro &amp; Book Announcement <strong>02:02</strong> — Meet Dr. TJ Highley: The Math Professor Trying to Fix NBA Tanking <strong>03:31</strong> — His NBA Fandom: Spurs to Sixers &amp; \"The Process\" <strong>05:21</strong> — COLA Explained: How Playoff History Replaces Regular Season Records <strong>07:57</strong> — Has Any NBA Insider Reviewed This System? <strong>09:59</strong> — Simple COLA: A Brand-New Version Revealed for the First Time <strong>13:35</strong> — Should the NBA Abolish the Draft? Ric Says No — Emphatically <strong>15:06</strong> — The Fatal Flaw in Every Anti-Tanking Proposal: Owners Who Don't Want to Win <strong>27:28</strong> — The Donald Sterling Blueprint: How Tanking Became a Business Model <strong>30:10</strong> — Denver Nuggets: Why Ric Is Second-Guessing His Championship Pick <strong>35:01</strong> — The Michael Porter Jr. Trade: What Ric Got Wrong <strong>38:05</strong> — The Hidden Cost: Rebounding and Why It Matters at Crunch Time <strong>43:54</strong> — Final Verdict: Can the Nuggets Come Out of the West? <strong>44:32</strong> — Outro &amp; Sponsor: New Air Club</p><p><br></p><p>#NBA#NBADraft#Tanking#NBALottery#DenverNuggets#NikolaJokic#RicBucher#OnTheBall#NBAAnalysis#Basketball#MichaelPorterJr#CamJohnson#NBAInsider#SportsPodcast#NBADebate#AntiTanking#COLA#NBAReform#SmallMarketNBA#UnitedWeCast</p>","author_name":"Ric Bucher, NBA insider and Fox Sports NBA analyst"}