Richard Hughes

I like baseball and basketball a lot. Not necessarily in that order. It’s probably unhealthy.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@SOrbit31914 Then delete it. Why continue to spread misinformation?

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@adammanross What alternative reality do you live in that you think abandoning centrism is what wins Pennsylvania and Wisconsin?

Also, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton narrowly lost winning their elections and won the popular vote.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@VoteMarsha @realDonaldTrump I met you in 2005 when I was still a Republican, and you were one of the least substantive, vacuous people I met while in DC. You’re an embarrassment to my home state, and I deplore your continued existence in state and national politics. Everything you touch gets worse.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@BrettSiegelNBA Pretty good night for the “NBA has a real tanking problem” crowd.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

This is a joke, right? Battling hard and losing is what every tanker aspires to. The NBA doesn’t have a tanking problem? I’m almost certainly responding to a troll, and I don’t respect myself for doing so.

[Brett Siegel @BrettSiegelNBA]

Bad night for the “every team is tanking” crowd in the league tonight.

Utah battled with Denver, who barely won in the fourth (despite Jazz pulling Filipowski/Sensabaugh).

Memphis battled hard against Houston.

Washington almost beat Golden State.

Brooklyn is giving LA Lakers everything they can handle through three quarters.

Indiana took LA Clippers to the final possession.

There is NO tanking problem.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@MaskedMem12 Because he’s stuck on a team that isn’t trying to win? Ja’s the reason they’re here. I think he can mope through a few more games before they trade him.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@JonRothstein “Ever” is a strong statement. Never. Not once. Not from now until the end of time.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@dannythebaer No, the actual issue people should be up in arms about is the fact that Utah with their current players should not be losing these games. The whole point of the draft is for the worst teams to get better draft picks. You’re not that bad right now. The team is artificially losing.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

I only present this in that context because that seems to matter to the NBA. I’m not actually much of a gambler. I just don’t understand how the league can continue to allow this behavior when it completely undermines the integrity of the standings across the board.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@DrewHill_DM @ChrisHerrington Why are individual player prop gambling shaving scandals (Rozier, Porter) a massive issue, but teams clearly throwing games is not? We call it tanking, but how is this not a gambling scandal?

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

BTW, I think both are a crisis in need of fixing because fulfilling the inherent sports-fan contract of competitive behavior to me is imperative. If regular season games can be treated like exhibition games, then the whole enterprise is suspect.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@DrewHill_DM Because they’re trying to lose. The players on the floor are trying to win, but the coaches, who are an extension of the organization, are actively trying to lose. The jazz are the biggest example of this, but the same thing is happening here. Competitively corrupt behavior.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@DamichaelC Because they’re playing to lose. Because the game doesn’t matter to the team (not the players, the team, which the coaches are an extension of). 1/3 of the league is trying to lose at this point, and the product overall is a disaster. Something has to be fixed! Grizz and Jazz 🤝

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@memgrizz Why in the absolute fuck would anybody pay money to watch this garbage? No one should renew their season tickets for next year when this is the approach. Purposely losing is morally corrupt. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@memgrizz I’m going to keep responding this way every time this happens. The end of this game was an absolute disgrace to the organization, the city, and to the integrity of the NBA. Tanking is not OK.

I don’t care if it’s to your ultimate benefit to lose for your draft pick. Disgusting!

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

Trying to lose is NOT OK!! It’s not OK when your team does it, and it’s not OK when my team does it. Sports are meant to be competitive. And competitive means you try to win.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@301xavierdgd @SunnyComb000 @704steeze @DCSportsDre Fine, I’ll concede the point. Washington is trying the OKC model (without an SGA to start and less draft capital). Maybe that is the right strategy. Best of luck. But it sucks for the league as a whole when purposeful losing is so accepted and commonplace.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@SunnyComb000 @704steeze @DCSportsDre Cool. Then why is Oklahoma City awesome? Why has Memphis had multiple iterations of playoff teams? Why is San Antonio consistently right back in the mix? Even Detroit is good now. Just terrible luck for Washington? Screwed in the lottery?

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@704steeze @DCSportsDre If Washington DC is a “small market“ then everybody is a small market outside of LA in New York. It’s all about management and culture. Pretty much every other team in the NBA has figured out how to be relevant in the last 15 years outside of Washington and maybe Charlotte.

[Richard Hughes @Hughes_Richard1]

@BBSports88 @hallsrh @HPbasketball Oh, so you’re a conspiracy theorist. You believe the draft was rigged?

If so, I can’t imagine why you would continue to support such a product. Why would you do that?