Mark Cuban defends NBA tanking against Adam Silver’s criticism
The former Mavericks owner believes the NBA should "embrace" tanking rather than punish it. Cuban prioritizes fan experience and financial accessibility to games.
Photo Credit : © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Mark Cuban takes the opposite stance from Adam Silver on the issue of tanking. While the latter declared last weekend that this practice was « worse this year than what we’ve seen recently, » the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks believes the league should instead « embrace » this strategy.
A different vision of NBA business
In a long message posted on X, Cuban develops his philosophy: « The NBA has been misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It’s never been that way. »
For the billionaire businessman, the NBA is not in the basketball business but « in the business of creating experiences for fans ». He argues: « Few people can remember the score of the last game they watched or attended. They can’t remember the dunks or shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, their friends, a date. That’s what makes the experience special. »
Cuban emphasizes that fans understand a team can’t win every game, but they want hope. « What fans who care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope that it will improve and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and maybe a title. The only way to get closer to that is through the draft. And trades. And salary cap space. You have a better chance of improving all three when you tank. »
The Mavericks and Luka Doncic example
The former Mavericks executive cites his team’s example: « We didn’t tank often. Only a few times in 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it led us to where we could improve, trade to get Luka Doncic and improve our team. »
This position contrasts with Adam Silver’s, who recently fined the Utah Jazz ($500,000) and the Indiana Pacers ($100,000) for resting healthy players. The commissioner believes that « if teams are manipulating their performance to get better draft picks even in a lottery, then the question becomes… are they really the lowest performing teams? »
Why the NBA should embrace tanking –
The NBA has kate 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.
When I got into the nba, they thought they were in the basketball business. They…
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 17, 2026
For Cuban, the NBA should focus on more urgent problems: « The NBA should worry more about the fan experience than tanking. It should worry more about fans not being able to afford going to 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 their favorite player’s jersey. Tanking is not the problem. Accessibility and the quality of game presentation are. »
With a background in sports management, Nicolas Flamecourt covers NBA news with a particular passion for the North American league, which he has been following for several years. He also covers the NCAA, including news and scouting of future prospects, and regularly conducts interviews with French players as well as players competing in Europe.
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