While many in and around the NBA have become enraged by the ongoing battle to the bottom by close to 10 teams, former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban supports the tanking and believes the league has a different problem.
Following the NBA trade deadline, teams throwing up the white flag and aiming to lose in the second half is nothing new. At this point in the campaign, the teams at the bottom of the standings are aware that all is lost, so they pivot to getting more ping pong balls for the NBA Draft lottery.
Usually, teams that decide to tank trade away stars before the deadline to get more draft assets. Losing those players, obviously, makes winning less likely. However, this season, as many as eight franchises have seemingly embraced the tanking despite adding big-name talent before the trade deadline.
The Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Pelicans deciding to tank is understandable, and they’ve followed the tried-and-true strategy before and after the deadline. However, the Washington Wizards made trades for Trae Young and Anthony Davis. The Indiana Pacers acquired big man Ivica Zubac. The Utah Jazz added two-time All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr.
Yet, despite the acquisitions, most of those stars are expected to sit out all or most of the remainder of the season. In the case of the Jazz, they drew the ire of many around the league and were hit with a hefty fine last week after they purposefully sat their best talent late in games so they could lose. It was a new tanking low that angered many around the game.
It has created a lot of speculation about ways to change the lottery format to avoid this new, ugly level of tanking. However, one person who doesn’t seem to have an issue with it is former Mavericks boss Mark Cuban.
Mark Cuban says ‘affordability’ is NBA’s real problem, not tanking
According to the billionaire, the league is in the “business of creating experiences” for fans, because when going to a game in person, they really don’t care about the wins or losses.
“Few can remember the score from the last game they saw or went to,” Cuban wrote in a post on X. “They can’t remember the dunks or shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, friends, and a date. That’s what makes the experience special.”
The former NBA owner claims fans are aware that only one team can win a title, so selling them hope is what most franchises must do. He admits that while it didn’t happen often, the Mavericks did purposefully tank a couple of times while he was the owner, so they could reset and give their fans renewed hope.
“We didn’t tank often. Only a few times over 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it,” he wrote. “And it got us to where we could improve, trade up to get Luka [Doncic], and improve our team.”
In his opinion, the NBA must worry less about tanking and more about “pricing fans out of games.”
“The NBA should worry more about fan experience than tanking,” Cuban wrote. “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 three 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 are.”
