Jazz are right to feel 'picked on' by NBA in more ways than one

It's been almost two months, and it's still ridiculous that the NBA fined the Utah Jazz half a million dollars even when they didn't break any rules. Even worse, other teams have followed the exact same blueprint the Jazz did and have not faced any punishment.

For that reason, The Athletic's Zach Harper confirmed the Jazz feeling like they are being "picked on" by the NBA for what they've done.

Is there any feasible argument against that notion? Benching their starters before the fourth quarter is definitely sketchy, but technically speaking, Utah didn't do anything wrong (the fact that they won one of the games that elicited the fine makes it even more ridiculous), and the fact that others have done pretty much the same thing and haven't faced any sort of fine makes it harder to think the Jazz are being unfairly punished.

But something else needs to be said here. The Jazz have every right to feel like they're being picked on because while other teams have gotten away with the same strategy scot-free, the Jazz should also feel picked on because they've hardly ever tanked throughout their franchise history, and now that they're doing it, the NBA has come down on them hard.

Jazz have tanked off and on, but not consistently, and not like this

It's not like Utah has never tanked. They did back during the 2013-14 season to get Dante Exum. They planned to do it again the following season until Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert became two of the season's most unlikely breakout stars.

Even when they tanked back then, they lost their two best players - Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson - and also acquired bad contracts from Golden State - Andris Biedrins, Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush - to get their hands on more picks on top of staying bad.

They tanked, but didn't execute the same strategy then that they are now: holding guys out and whatnot to ensure they got the best odds possible. Utah's been a lot more clever now than they were back then, but even so, what they've been doing has, for the most part, been perfectly in line with the NBA's rules.

Look, it's not like the NBA doesn't have a point here, but what makes it unfair is the fact that, because the Jazz haven't regularly executed this strategy until the past few years, it feels unfair that the league was quick to fine them $500K when teams have exploited similar loopholes and didn't lose a penny for it.

Also, Utah did this because they didn't have better options. They are being punished for being smart?! They don't have the same advantages the Lakers or Knicks do, and have had to rely on shrewd team-building to get to where they've been. They're well on they're way to getting right back to where they were, and tanking has and will play a part in that.

Skeptics are well within the right to point at the Jazz for how they've tanked, but they should also sympathize with their gripe because they're not the only ones and they don't have long history of this.