I don't recall suggesting that tanking doesn't or will not affect fan interest for a franchise. Of course it does, on a certain micro level for an individual franchise. I don't think I've implied that and if I have I didn't intend to and will take a mea culpa on it.
What I'm saying is those marginal losses from tickets and concessions - from the presumable fans that are upset their team is tanking - are not what are buttering the bread for an NBA franchise. TNT and ESPN aren't dropping absurd amounts of money to show the Pelicans or the Suns or the Kings or a half dozen other teams. They don't give a shit if those teams tank. And the people paying cable fees for those networks don't either, partly because they don't have a choice, since it's bundled. If you're paying Comcast or Directv or whatever, you're paying them whether you watch it, whether you don't or whether or not you care if the Sixers are tanking. The networks care because they can sell ad revenue when the Cavs and Dubs are on, or even in big markets like NY or LA people are going to watch either way.
The biggest risk for a team tanking, financially speaking, is for their regional networks and even those deals are set long in advance. They might lose on sponsorships, yes. They might lose on luxury boxes, yes. But they're not risking the league in the process. Those are their own money and in my opinion it should be up to the owner to make that call. It's his money at that point.
My viewpoint isn't based purely on Forbes valuation, but also the incredible leap that the cap took the last couple years - while blatant tanking was occurring. If it was hurting the league, how did revenues go up so much, so quickly? Those sinking ships didn't seem to drag much down, did they? Serious tanking started long before the last CBA was agreed upon.
Why does Adam Silver care? I don't really know, but I assume much like all sports, powerful owners that pay his salary are in his ear, for whatever reasons they have. And perhaps a vague PR version of integrity of the league that isn't quite as championed as it is by Mr. Clown nose.
CTE? Reallly? The NFL cares about CTE because of lawsuits. They give two shits about the health of their players. They're worried about their exposure legally. It has literally no relevance in a discussion about tanking. Tanking is t hurting the bottom line. CTE could.