Suns owner blasts tanking as ‘much worse than any prop bet scandal’
suns-owner-calls-tanking-worse-than-prop-bet-scandal
Phoenix Suns governor Mat Ishbia condemned the practice of tanking on Thursday, labeling it “losing behavior done by losers” and “much worse than any prop bet scandal.”
Ishbia’s comments were posted on X on Feb. 19, 2026, after a Yahoo Sports article highlighted the issue. Several NBA teams had already been fined before the All-Star break for resting healthy players, and commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged during his All-Star Weekend news conference that tanking this season had been “worse … than we’ve seen in recent memory.”
“Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with,” Ishbia wrote. “If you are a bad team, you get a good pick. But purposely shutting down players and purposely losing games is a disgrace and impacts the integrity of [the] whole league.” He added that strategic losing is “horrible for fans that pay to watch and cheer on their team” and unfair to clubs legitimately chasing playoff spots.
Because of trades made after Ishbia assumed control of the franchise in 2023, Phoenix does not control its own first-round draft selection until 2032, leaving the Suns unable to benefit from tanking. Ishbia said he has “complete confidence” that Silver will craft a solution and urged other league power brokers to speak out against the practice.
Silver told reporters the NBA is exploring measures that could include stripping draft picks from offenders. “I understand what your short-term interests may be, but we’d better not lose sight of our fans here,” the commissioner said.
Source: ESPN
