NEW YORK — After 20 years in the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki can't be fooled.
He knows when teams aren't giving an honest effort, when they are out there playing but not playing to win.
"It's pretty obvious," Nowitzki said.
Easy to spot, the NBA is finding tanking not so easy to stop.
It's a problem for the league office, which has fined owners, chastised teams and sent out league-wide memos on the topic. And with big brother watching, teams are abiding by the letter of the law, but arguably not the spirit of its intent.