Former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes the NBA should embrace tanking. No, really.
Cuban went on a lengthy diatribe Tuesday in which he described his feelings on the subject. In his post, Cuban outlined why he believes the NBA should focus on "creating experiences for fans" and admitted to tanking while he was running the Mavs.
In Cuban's post — whichcan be read in full here— he claimed that fans don't necessarily want to see their teams compete every single night. Cuban said fans don't necessarily remember specific scores, dunks or shots from games. Instead, he argued, they remember the people who attended the game with them.
Cuban said fans are aware a team cannot win every single game, but that the hope of improvement is what drives fans forward. Sometimes, the easiest way to do that is to tank, per Cuban.
"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.
"The one way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trades. And cap room. You have a better chance of improving via all 3 , when you tank."
Cuban then admitted to tanking when he was with the Mavericks. He claimed the team didn't tank "often," but said the fans appreciated when the Mavericks pushed for better draft position. Cuban said tanking helped the team secure Luka Dončić during the 2018 NBA Draft.
Cuban eventually tried to connect the two issues, and argued "pricing fans out of games" is a bigger problem than tanking.
"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.
"Tanking isn't the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are."
A few hours later, Cuban sent a lengthy follow-up to his initial tweet. In it, he explained why tanking was more viable than ever now. The tweet, which contains some NSFW language,can be read in full here. Cuban ultimately concludes that — based on the current NBA rules — getting the most out of players on rookie deals is the easiest way to win games. Sometimes, a team has to tank to get the most elite rookies in the draft.
Cuban said the real issue there is that the team has to lie to its fans when it tanks. Otherwise, that team will receive a hefty fine from the NBA. Cuban called for a scenario where teams could be more open about their intentions, saying he wished teams could be upfront about tanking for a draft pick and communicating why they were taking that approach with fans.
In that scenario, Cuban also called for some accountability, saying a team owner should then meet with season-ticket holders and fans to answer questions about the team's approach.
Many of Cuban's opinions should get support from fans, though some of his leaps in logic don't exactly fit, particularly Cuban's attempt to connect tanking with making games more affordable and growing fandom. There are plenty of ways for a team to grow fandom in sports. Offering affordable tickets certainly feels like a good way to get a wide number of fans invested in the team. Winning games is also pretty important on that end, though. It's a lot more fun to support a team that's playing well.
To Cuban's point, there are times when tanking does seem like an advantageous option for franchises. And after seeing the tactic put into place a number of times — and occasionally result in success — the practice is more accepted among fan bases at this point.
Fans are capable of understanding when it's the right move to try and secure the top pick in the draft. It's not always a guarantee that works out, but having a shot at more elite talent in the draft can make a huge impact on a franchise if the player selected is a superstar.
But that also results in a lot of bad basketball, especially during the second half of an NBA season. If a team has virtually no shot at winning, it's going to be tough to draw fans out to the game, regardless of how cheap it is to attend.
