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After NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last weekend that tanking is the worst it’s been “in recent memory,” Mark Cuban thinks he and the league office should “embrace” it.
The NBA recently fined the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers, who own a combined record of 33-78, $500,000 and $100,000, respectively, for sitting healthy players, and Silver said last weekend that he is considering “every possible solution” to combat it.
But Cuban, who has previously admitted to tanking, wrote on X “Why the NBA should embrace” teams that aren’t putting their best foot forward for future gain.
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Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban watches the Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever game in the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
“The NBA has … been deluded into thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It’s never been that way,” Cuban began in a lengthy X post.
“When I came into the NBA, they thought they were in the basketball business. They’re not. They’re in the business of creating experiences for fans. Few can remember the score of the last game they saw or went to. They don’t remember the dunks or the shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, friends, a date. That’s what makes the experience special.
“Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fans (sic) who care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope they get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring. The only way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trade. And cap room. You have a better chance to improve via all 3 games.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban during a press conference after Luka Doncic signed a contract extension (REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic)
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“We didn’t have thoughts often. Only a few times in 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it got us to where we could improve, trade to get Luka [Doncic] and improve our team.
“The NBA should care more about the fan experience than tanking. It should care more about pricing fans out of games than tanking. You know who cares least about tanking, a parent who can’t afford to take their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their favorite player. Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation is.”
With a stacked NBA Draft class, it seems more teams are vying for better chances at the No. 1 pick. And while the lottery had good intentions of not guaranteeing the worst team the top pick, the luck of the lottery has led to more and more teams that know they can’t compete for a championship competing for what they hope will be their next chance.
“If teams are manipulating their performance to get higher draft picks even in a lottery, then the question becomes … are they really the worst performing teams?” Silver said during NBA All-Star Weekend. “For example, it’s not clear to me that the 30th-performing team is that much measurably worse than the 22nd-performing team, especially if you have an incentive to perform poorly to get a better draft pick….
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks during the Emirates NBA Cup Finals press conference at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
“The league is 80 years old. It’s time to take another look at this to see if it’s an outdated way of doing it.”
