Cuban: NBA should 'embrace tanking' to improve fan experience - ESPN

Count Mark Cuban as pro-NBA tanking.

Cuban, the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, says the fan experience is chief among the reasons the NBA should «embrace tanking.»

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...

«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 said.

Last week, the NBA fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000, with the NBA saying both teams sat healthy players in recent games while noting that moves that compromise the league's integrity won't be tolerated.

Cuban, who still owns a share of the Mavericks, challenged that approach and says the league should be more transparent in tanking discussions.

«The worst s--- that the nba dishes out, is that if you don't lie to your fans about what you are doing, even though it's obvious to them, you get fined. And the threaten you with losing picks,» he wrote.

Tanking Part 2: Why it's «worse» now

1. College basketball players are pros. They are paid for performance more than potential. So while the nba values younger players who will continue to develop, they are now playing against bigger, better, higher BBIQ players because...

Cuban says tanking helped to get Luka Doncic in the 2018 draft. The Mavericks went 24-58 in 2017, the season before drafting Doncic, who was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2025.

«We didn't tank