Did the Dallas Mavericks this year tank to get a better draft pick? The evidence is quite incriminating.
The Dallas Mavericks’ management team had better be ready to answer inquiries about everything from the Shark Tank to actually tanking during the NBA season. The Mavs reportedly tanked at the end of the 2022–23 season in order to obtain a better draft pick, and the NBA is reportedly looking into this.
The Dallas Mavericks’ recent 115-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls was the game in question, according to NBA spokesman Mike Bass, who stated on Saturday that the league would investigate the “acts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks’ roster decisions and game conduct.”
In that narrow defeat, the Mavs curiously sat their entire starting rotation which included Kyrie Irving, Maxi Kleber, Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, and Christian Wood. Star Luca Doncic played 12 minutes in the first half before being taken out of the game for good.
Foul play? Definitely.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd claimed he sat his starters for “rest,” and earlier this month it was indeed rumored that Doncic and Irving may be shut down for the final several games of the season.
In addition, the Mavs may have had to cough up a first-round pick if they made the playoffs. They owed the New York Knicks a first-rounder that was top-10 protected; by losing to the Bulls, Dallas is primed to get a 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft lottery. How convenient.
Even though concerns for Doncic and Irving’s health are slightly valid, sitting them and the other starters for the majority of a must-win game is tanking at its finest, and the NBA should absolutely be investigating the Mavs organization, savvy entrepreneur Mark Cuban included. The proof is in the pudding.
