Dallas Mavericks Tanking Controversy

Mavericks Tanking: The Reason Why

This year, Dallas had title aspirations, boosted by their mid-season trade for controversial star Kyrie Irving. However, despite a strong roster, issues on defense and a talented Western Conference saw the Mavericks skid during the second half.

Meanwhile, as a result of their 2019 Kristaps Porzingis trade, the New York Knicks own the Mavericks first round draft pick, if the pick falls out of the top-10. With a loss tonight to the Bulls, the Mavericks will likely finish as the 10th worst team in the NBA. As long as no team jumps them in the lottery, they’ll be able to keep their own pick.

With the team struggling, questions about head coach Jason Kidd’s coaching ability, and a tough western conference, Dallas owner Mark Cuban likely doesn’t think his team can make a long run. As a result, the Mavericks tanking will carry through the final few games of the season.

Mavericks Tanking Now and Then

For Cuban, this isn’t the first time that a Mavericks tanking scandal has impacted his franchise. Back in 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 after publicly confirming his tanking approach. At the time, the NBA and commissioner Silver looked to send a strong message to teams to try and discourage the behavior.

Most notably of this Mavericks Tanking scandal, Kyrie Irving did not play in the game against the Bulls. With other key pieces scheduled to sit, including Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood, it remains to be seen if commissioner Silver will look to punish Dallas once again.

With the season about to end, the NBA offices would much rather the attention on the sport be about the upcoming playoffs. Instead, the Dallas tanking scandal will throw the sport back into the limelight for all of the wrong reasons.

Stories about Sacramento making it back to the Postseason or the MVP race between Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic will, at least temporarily, take a back seat to the Mavericks tanking controversy while the sports media will surely scrutinize.