Mark Cuban took to social media Tuesday to share his stance on the NBA’s widely-publicized tanking dilemma.
Tanking has been a hot topic of discussion in recent days, especially after NBA commissioner Adam Silver fined the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers for a player participation policy breach. Over the NBA All-Star break, Silver said the tanking behavior was “worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory.”
Cuban wants the NBA to embrace tanking. According to Cuban, fans know only one team can win a title every year. To keep themselves engaged, fans want hope that their teams will show improvement in the future.
“When I got into the nba, they thought they were in the basketball business,” Cuban wrote on X. “They aren’t. They are in the business of creating experiences for fans.”
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
Cuban added that teams get better through the NBA draft, making trades and increasing their salary cap room. All three of those aspects could be bolstered by tanking. Cuban admitted the Mavs didn’t tank often under his direction, but when they did, “fans appreciated it.”
He then pointed out that the team tanked ahead of the 2018 draft to improve its chances of landing guard Luka Doncic.
“Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are,” Cuban wrote.
Cuban later shared a list that broke down why tanking seems worse now than in years past. His list notably included fines, which the NBA usually hands down to teams when they’re considered guilty of tanking.
Back in 2023, the NBA fined the Mavericks $750,000 for resting Doncic and other key players in an elimination game against the Chicago Bulls. In 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 for tanking comments.
“It’s a joke,” Cuban wrote. “You can’t tell the truth to your fans.”
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…
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 17, 2026
Cuban also floated some suggestions for fixing the tanking issue and the league’s draft. He advocated for making the draft more like free agency, where the team with the worst record would get “salary slotted to the first draft pick.” In that scenario, teams would recruit players with the newly-added cap room.
Another solution from Cuban: Make the NBA draft four rounds instead of two.
“One of the DUMBEST things that happens during the draft, particularly now with 2 ways , is that when the draft hits about 45, and players have fallen much further than expected, the phone lights up with calls from agents telling those with remaining picks NOT TO DRAFT their player. They would prefer to pick the team they want,” Cuban wrote.
By adding two more draft rounds, Cuban believes things would be more fair for the players involved.
“The agents aren’t dumb. They will play team against each other for guaranteed money, a 2 way contract, playing time,” Cuban wrote. “It’s ridiculous.”
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