With NBA commissioner Adam Silver fining teams for tanking and making statements about repercussions, there has been a lot of talk in league circles about the process and strategy of tanking its effectiveness and fairness.
The Utah Jazz received a $500,000 fine and the Indiana Pacers got a $100,000 fine for recent game management and roster decisions, the league announced on Feb. 12.
Tanking, in a nutshell, is strategically and effectively losing games through playing or not playing players that can help win. In the long run, the hope is to position oneself in the draft and in free agency to improve the team long term.
One of the latest sports figures to partake in the conversation was Dallas Mavericks minority owner and basketball advisor Mark Cuban, who took to social media to express his take.
‘The NBA has [quite] been misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It’s never been that way that way,’ Cuban wrote. ‘When I got into the NBA, they thought they were in the basketball business. They aren’t.’
‘They are in the business of creating experiences for fans. Few can remember the score from the last game they saw or went to. They can’t remember the dunks or shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, friends, a date. That’s what makes the experience special.’
Cuban, the Mavericks’ majority owner for 23 years and now minority owner, said that fans understand when their team isn’t good. What fans prioritize more is hope, he implied.
‘Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fan that care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring,’ Cuban wrote. ‘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.’
Did Mark Cuban, Mavericks lose intentionally?
Tanking happens often in the NBA and it has for a better part of the last two decades. At least Cuban said so on X.
He also added that fans ‘appreciated it’ whenever they would willfully lose games.
‘We didn’t tank often. Only a few times over 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it got us to where we could improve, trade up to get Luka [Doncic] and improve our team,’ Cuban wrote on X.
Cuban and the Mavericks acquired Doncic via a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, who selected Doncic with the third overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, for Trae Young, who Dallas chose at the fifth pick, and a protected future first-round pick.
Positioning themselves for that pick, they finished the previous season with a 24–58 record, which included a 3-15 start through their first 18 games, and finished the season winning just two of 14 games.
In the 2025 NBA Draft, the Mavericks received the No. 1 pick, selecting Cooper Flagg out of Duke.
During the 2024-25 season, the Mavericks sent Doncic, along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, to the Los Angeles Lakers in a controversial blockbuster trade in return for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick.
Dallas finished the 2024-25 season with a 39-43 record, losing in a postseason play-in qualification game to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Mavericks became the second straight team, after the Hawks, to qualify for postseason play and to receive the first overall pick despite only having a 1.8% chance to win the NBA draft lottery.
The bottom NBA standings in the 2025-26 season
The Sacramento Kings have the worst record in the league at 12-44, just above them are the Washington Wizards at 14-39. Here are the bottom ten teams in the NBA standings through the All-Star break in the 2025-26 season.
- Sacramento Kings, 12-44
- Washington Wizards, 14-39
- New Orleans Pelicans,15-41
- Indiana Pacers, 15-40
- Brooklyn Nets,15-38
- Utah Jazz, 18-38
- Dallas Mavericks, 19-35
- Memphis Grizzlies, 20-33
- Milwaukee Bucks, 23-30
- Chicago Bulls, 24-31
Tank-a-thon predicts 2026 NBA Draft through All-Star break
The following order in the 2026 NBA Draft, according to Tankathon.com, predicts the Kings with the No. 1 pick and the Wizards at No. 2.
The Pelicans would have the No. 3 pick but it goes to the Hawks after a they acquired an unprotected 2026 first-round pick from New Orleans during the 2025 NBA Draft as part of a deal for the 13th pick, which was Derik Queen. The Hawks secured the right to the most favorable 2026 first-round pick between the Pelicans and the Bucks.
Here’s the hypothetical order of the 2026 NBA Draft as of Feb. 17, according to Tankathon.com:
- No. 1: Sacramento Kings
- No. 2: Washington Wizards
- No. 3: New Orleans Pelicans (traded to Hawks)
- No. 4: Indiana Pacers
- No. 5: Brooklyn Nets
- No. 6: Utah Jazz
- No. 7: Dallas Mavericks
- No. 8: Memphis Grizzlies
- No. 9: Milwaukee Bucks
- No. 10: Chicago Bulls
Cuban: Bigger issue in NBA than tanking
Cuban stands by that tanking is one of least of the NBA’s concerns, or should be. Rather he insisted that the NBA should focus on game attendance.
‘The NBA should worry more about fan experience than tanking,’ Cuban wrote on X. ‘It should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking. You know who cares the least about tanking , a parent who cant 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.’
The average cost for a family of four to attend an NBA game during the 2025-26 season is $277.65 for the cheapest available tickets, a parking spot, two beers, two sodas and four hot dogs, according to Bookies.com.
