Mavs news: Mark Cuban admits to sending controversial message to his players

True to the spirit of tanking, instead of pushing his team to compete harder, Dallas Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban recently admitted that he had told his players that losing games is the best option to take.

Tanking has been a controversial topic over the past few years — made prominent by the Philadelphia 76ers. It has promoted a lack of parity during games, where teams that are not faring well tend to sit out players to increase their chances of getting a higher pick in the draft.

The 59-year-old billionaire shared the surprising news during his appearance on Julius Erving's “House Call with Dr. J.” where Cuban said that he explained it to their players as they are currently not competing for a playoff spot, and also told them what the franchise's plans are in the summer.

“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,’” Cuban said. “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.”

This is definitely one of the more shocking confessions made lately, especially with the NBA finding ways to combat tanking. It'll be interesting to find out how the league office will react to Cuban's admittance, and what they'll do to make sure the Mavs still compete.

With Dirk Nowitzki headed to retirement bay, the Mavs appear to be spending the rest of the season in appreciation mode.

Dallas is currently in 15th place in the Western Conference with an 18-40 win-loss slate. It's highly likely that they won't make it to the playoffs this season, as they are looking geared to be on their way to the lottery. While it gives them more reason to tank, Cuban's latest interview could make Adam Silver and company watch them closely moving forward.