Tanking has been a hot topic around the NBA this season, and the league isn’t staying quiet about it anymore. Commissioner Adam Silver used All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles to put teams on notice, making it clear that easing off for draft position isn’t something the league is just going to look the other way on.
The NBA backed that up with fines just days before. The Utah Jazz got hit with $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers were fined $100,000 for violating the Player Participation Policy.
Both cases came down to teams making decisions based on draft positioning rather than competing. After those penalties dropped, the message landed. Not everybody’s buying it, though.
Mark Cuban blasts NBA priorities
Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban went public with his pushback, posting a lengthy response on X laying out exactly why he thinks the league is looking at the wrong problem.
“The NBA has lately been misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It’s never been that way.”
“What fans that care about…is hope. Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring. The one way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trades. And cap room. You have a better chance of improving via all 3 when you tank.”
“The NBA should worry more about fan experience than tanking. It should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking. You know who cares the least about tanking, a parent who can’t afford to bring their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their fave player. Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are.”