Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban Fined $600,000 for Tanking Comments

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has received his largest fine ever from the NBA. He was fined $600,000 by the NBA for his comments on tanking during an interview on the Dr. J podcast with Hall of Famer Julius Irving.

“I’m probably not supposed to say this, but, like, I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night, and here we are, you know, we weren’t competing for the playoffs. I was like, ‘Look, losing is our best option,’”he said, according to Sports Illustrated. He continued, “(Commissioner Adam Silver) would hate hearing that, but I at least 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, like, 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.”