Feb. 17, 2026 — Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban said the NBA should openly accept tanking, arguing that the practice ultimately benefits fans and the league’s overall product.
In a series of posts on X on Tuesday, Cuban contended that the NBA’s focus should be “creating experiences for fans,” not ensuring that every team fields its best lineup each night. “Few can remember the score from the last game they saw,” he wrote. “What they remember is who they were with.”
Recent fines spark criticism
Cuban’s comments followed the league’s decision last week to fine the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for resting healthy players. The NBA said the penalties were meant to protect the integrity of competition. Cuban, who still owns a minority stake in the Mavericks, called that stance misguided and said clubs should be allowed to be transparent about strategic losing.
“The worst thing the NBA does is fine teams for telling fans the truth,” he posted, adding that the league also threatens to strip draft picks from franchises perceived as tanking.
Mavericks once benefited
Cuban cited the 2016-17 season, when Dallas finished 24-58 before trading up to select Luka Doncic in the 2018 draft. He said the strategy “improved our team” and claimed the organization was later fined $600,000 over tanking remarks, which he labeled “a joke.”
Affordability over wins and losses
The longtime executive argued that ticket prices matter more to families than nightly outcomes. “Parents who can’t afford to bring their three kids to a game care the least about tanking,” he wrote, urging the league to prioritize affordability instead of punishing teams for long-term planning.
During All-Star Weekend, commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that tanking was “worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory” and said he is weighing all options, including docking draft picks, to curb the trend.
Cuban maintains that fans simply want hope for future success, even if that means losing games in the short term. “Only one team wins a ring,” he wrote. “What fans want is hope their team will get better.”
Source: ESPN
