Cuban: NBA should ’embrace tanking’ to improve fan experienceESPNMultiple AuthorsFeb 17, 2026, 12:24 PM ET
tamil yogi
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…
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 17, 2026
“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 mentioned.
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 they 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…
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 17, 2026
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 often. Only a few times over 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it got us to where we could improve, trade up to get Luka and improve our team,” he wrote.
Cuban wrote that the team was fined $600,000 after that, saying “It’s a joke.”
Fans make the league, Cuban wrote, and the NBA must embrace that and create better experiences for them.
“When I got not the NBA, they thought they were in the basketball business. They aren’t. They are in the business of creating experiences for fans,” he mentioned.
Editor’s Picks
To Cuban, a good fan experience also includes affordability.
“You know who cares the least about tanking? A parent who can’t afford to bring their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their fave player,” he wrote. “[The NBA] should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking.”
Tanking also proves to fans that teams are looking ahead to next season, Cuban wrote.
“Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fans that care about their team’s record want is hope. … Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring.”
Over the All-Star weekend, commissioner Adam Silver addressed questions about tanking, acknowledging that tanking has been “worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory” and he is considering “every possible remedy” — including taking away draft picks — to stop it.
✔ today silver rate
✔ 2026 winter olympics
✔ chat gtp
✔ silver rate today
✔ silver rate today live
✔ 2030 winter olympics
Sports
