It's sad, maybe even a little heartbreaking, to see as fierce a competitor as Magic Johnson endorse the terrible notion of tanking (or at least the idea that losing is a good thing).

"I hope the Lakers lose every game," Magic said, adding, "If you're going to lose, lose."

This mentality is borne out of some logic — twisted logic in some ways, but smart (on paper) logic in others. The more you lose, the better chance you have to get a good draft pick, of course. So if the choice is between winning 30 games and getting the No. 11 pick or winning 20 games and perhaps getting the No. 1 pick, why wouldn't you just go all out and try to get that better player?

Listen: we have no problem with the notion of a youth movement and doing what the Wolves are doing right now (partly by choice, a little more so by necessity). Developing players is probably the best way for a team like Minnesota to ever become a true contender (though it should be noted that on the best Wolves team in franchise history, exactly one of the top nine players in terms of minutes played was a Wolves draft pick).

But the idea of it being good to lose? Never.

First, it has the ability to create bad habits with players and bad situations in locker rooms.

More than that, though, it's a symptom of a greater ill: a sort of societal depression springing from growing recent phenomenon that if there is no means for instant gratification, what's the point?

If a team (or fan) can't get the instant satisfaction of having a playoff contender, the mentality quickly shifts to a distant, pie-in-the-sky fantasy that it's all OK because losing now means winning later. It makes people think that losing is the key to winning — that losing IS the new winning. And that's just so wrong.

Nobody wants to think about the in-between. Not enough people want to put in the work — or really understand that 40 wins is a lot closer to 60 wins than 20 wins.

Win big or lose big. That's the mentality, and that's what Magic is saying. It's just so very sad.