Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has never been shy of speaking his mind and even talk about controversial issues surrounding the NBA. At the end of the season, he even gave comments that basically said he admitted to tanking the final month of the season when they were eliminated from playoff contention, raising a lot of eyebrows from members of the league office, including commissioner Adam Silver.
The commissioner discussed the statements Cuban made during the Board of Governors press conference in Las Vegas and admitted that they were concerning to hear. He also added, as transcribed by Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, that he had already spoken to him personally regarding it.
“Yes, it’s not what you want to hear as commissioner. I will say that Mark has a long track record of being provocative, and it was something that we spoke to him directly about. I think he acknowledged it was a poor choice of words. When we looked at what was actually happening on the floor, which is most important to me, there was no indication whatsoever that his players were intentionally losing games. And so we were satisfied with that, and again, and we moved on.”
Although Cuban might have been exaggerating with his comments, the NBA has long been trying to find ways to combat the tanking issue, which has marginally affected the TV ratings, but has made fans around the league extremely frustrated considering they're paying top-dollar for top-notch competition.
As Silver and company continue to study options they might take to prevent tanking from rampantly happening in the league, it has already implemented an earlier start to the season, which should reduce back-to-backs throughout the season and provide more rest days for players. It's the first good step towards keeping fans happy and ratings up.
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