As the NBA continues its public battle against tanking, Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban is taking the conversation in a different direction. While the league has expanded the Play-In Tournament and issued fines to discourage late-season losing, Cuban argues the outrage over tanking misses a larger point.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Cuban suggested the NBA should “embrace tanking” rather than obsess over eliminating it. In his view, the real threat to the league isn’t teams jockeying for draft position. Rather, it’s pricing fans out of the building and delivering a diluted in-arena product.
“Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are,” Cuban wrote, reframing the debate. His broader thesis: the NBA is not just a competition business, it’s an experience business.
Since tanking is getting everyone’s attention , back in the day, when we were winning 50 gms every year and never got a good pick here is what I floated
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 17, 2026
“Make the draft more like free agency. Except the worst record gets the salary slotted to the first draft pick. The next…
What Are Mark Cuban’s Alternative Draft Ideas?
Cuban has long floated structural changes to reduce the incentive to lose. One proposal would have replaced traditional draft positioning with a “rookie cap room” model, where teams with the worst records receive more financial flexibility rather than a guaranteed top pick.
Another idea he consistently pushed was expanding the draft from two rounds to four, arguing that the current late-second-round process is chaotic and unfair to players navigating two-way contracts and agent maneuvering.
Both ideas aim to address competitive balance, but even Cuban has acknowledged that they would not fully eliminate strategic losing. Teams would still benefit from finishing near the bottom, whether through cap space or draft capital.
Mark Cuban’s Tanking Solution Is Focusing On Fan Experience
The NBA is projected to generate over $14 billion in revenue this season, buoyed by its new 11-year, $76 billion media deal. Yet more than a quarter of league revenue still comes from ticket sales and premium seating, with concessions and parking adding another significant slice.
Cuban argues that affordability, not tanking, is what will determine long-term fan engagement. Rising ticket prices across the league, including in Dallas after Cuban sold his majority stake in 2023, have made live games increasingly inaccessible to middle-income families.
Additionally, All-Star Weekend, despite strong TV ratings, drew criticism for corporate-heavy vibes and steep entry costs.
From Cuban’s perspective, fans don’t attend games solely for wins. They attend for shared memories, with family, friends, or children seeing their favorite player live. A rebuilding season can still generate hope. Being priced out entirely cannot.
That said, keeping Cuban’s longstanding advice in mind, if the league wants to protect its future, it should worry less about ping-pong balls and more about whether fans can afford a seat in the arena at all.
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