As the NBA continues to debate how to address tanking, Mark Cuban has stepped firmly into the conversation with a clear stance: the league should stop fighting it and start focusing on the fan experience.
Cuban’s comments came in response to recent league scrutiny, including a fine issued to the Utah Jazz and broader remarks from Adam Silver at All-Star Weekend, where the commissioner acknowledged the NBA is exploring ways to curb tanking. Cuban, however, sees the issue differently.
“Why the NBA should embrace tanking,” Cuban wrote on X. “The NBA has [sic] 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 aren’t. They are in the business of creating experiences for fans. 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.
“Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fan 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. 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.
“The NBA should worry more about fan experience than tanking. It should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking.
“You know who cares the least about tanking, a parent who cant afford to bring their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their fave player,” he continued.
“Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are.”
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