Mavericks owner Mark Cuban admitted the Mavericks tanked last season, but said they wouldn’t this season until they’re eliminated.
Apparently, he’s loosening the restriction – and getting even more brazen about discussing it.
Dallas (18-40) is not officially eliminated, but with the league’s third-worst record, it’s only a matter of time.
Cuban on Julius Erving’s podcast, House Call with Dr. J:I’m probably not supposed to say this, but I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night. And here we are, we weren’t competing for the playoffs. I was like, “Look, losing is our best option.” Adam would hate hearing that, but at least I sat down, and I explained it to them. And I explained what our plans were going to be this summer, that we’re not going to tank again. This was a year-and-a-half tanking, and that was too brutal for me.
But being transparent, I think that’s the key to being kind of a players owner and having stability.
This is why it’s not completely accurate to say players don’t tank.
Sure, they don’t go on the court and try to lose. Some would have their job for the following season jeopardized by a higher draft pick.
But when management wants to lose, that flows throughout the entire organization, including to players. Workers don’t perform as well when their boss prefers failure. A feeling of apathy (or wore) sets in, intentionally or not.
The message isn’t always this direct, and it’s practically never publicly revealed like this. Cuban marches to his own drum, and he’s absolutely right: NBA commissioner Adam Silver – who disliked last year’s comments – certainly won’t like these.
However Silver responds, Cuban can at least take solace in being right. The Mavericks are better off tanking, and telling the players can build trust. They would have figured it out for themselves, anyway.