The NBA is considered to be one of the most popular professional sports, so why is the league run so horribly? The modern day NBA is consistent of teams trying to collect players known as "superstars", examples Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, etc. Unless your team has a superstar or multiple superstars, your chances of winning the NBA finals are slim. Just ask Lebron James, who has been apart of six consecutive NBA finals, but only victorious in two. The Philadelphia 76ers have brought a new strategy in order to try to change their team from a constant 8th or 7th seed to a 1 or 2 seed. Sam Hinkie, was named the general manager during the 2012 off-season and has changed the way teams rebuild. Hinkie has been trying to lose basketball games on purpose in order to receive a higher draft pick in hope of finding a "superstar" through the draft. The league has not been happy with the 76ers during their "tanking" process, considering they are the laughing stock of the NBA. Before the tanking started, it was not always like that for the 80's dominant 76ers who were considered as one of the best franchises in the league. The NBA is a broken league because of the inability to win a championship without having multiple superstars on your team. 

I'm interested in this research topic, because I am a huge fan of the NBA and the 76ers. The research question does not affect me and my values, but it gets under my skin when people do not relax what and why the Sixers are doing what their doing and how it is the NBA's fault it has came to this. My father and I are long time season ticket holder of the 76ers, although in past years we have been selling more then going. I am qualified to write about this because I know a lot about basketball and have a huge interest in the NBA. 

Source 1. http://philadelphia.suntimes.com/philadelphia-76ers 

The Central claim of this article is too show how season tickets for the Sixers are at an all time low. The price of season tickets from 2014-2015 season dropped 31% and they failed to sellout any games the entire season. They had an average ticket price at $68.94 a game which was the second lowest in the league to the Pacers. The Sixers started the year at $95 game, so the losing definitely added up with the fans. The Major values at stake in this article are to show how the ticket pricing is at an all time low for the Sixers and fans are upset. The credibility of this source is good since the author Trevor Conley is a beat writer for the Philadelphia 76ers.


The central claim of this article is that the Sixers are the NBA's least liked team. The author questions Sam Hinkie's tanking theory and disagrees with it. The author Phil Taylor believes that the tanking is hurting the players on the team and having a negative impact in the locker room among the players. Taylor even names the article "Sixers' cynical approach to rebuilding makes them easy to root against". He uses major evidence from last year's team and how they almost set the NBA record by losing 24 games straight to start a season. The author interviewed Michael Carter Williams, a former Sixers player, and talked about the struggle of losing so much. The interest at stake is that Phil Taylor got a first hand account from the best player on the Sixers about the tanking process and what it is like to play under it. The author is a very credible writer since this article is from Sports Illustrated, which is the lead magazine that covers sports. The only downfall with this article is that it was written about a year ago.


The central claim of this article is that the 76ers tanking is finally on the upswing. Adam Fromal, the author of this evidence talks about the building blocks the Sixers have gathered and how they are working. He also talks about how the Sixers have set themselves up well for the future and lists their numerous draft picks in the next three drafts. The author also talks about the security the Sixers have brought to their Salary Cap. This article has major values, because it is from two months ago and shows the Sixers are making good improvements. This author is a very credible source because bleacher report is one of the top reads for articles related to sports.

This research question is arguable, because the NBA needs to change. Compared to other professional sports, the NBA is the worst ran league. In any other sport, each year is a different year and usually you get better and can compete for a championship. In the NBA that is impossible unless miraculously you sign a superstar like Lebron James. Some agreements and disagreements among the sources I have found are about the 76ers. Some sources agree with the tanking and are starting to see the sun at the end of the tunnel, but some also disagree with it and think it's bad for the NBA. The different perspectives affect my own, but I do not blame the Sixers for what they are doing, I blame the NBA.  I revised my research question originally from "The 76ers tanking is changing the corrupt NBA for the better" to what it is now. Now I think it is a really good research question.
