The NBA has the Dallas Mavericks fined $750,000 for a loss just before the end of the season.
The North American professional basketball league justified the decision by saying that the team around national player Maxi Kleber had broken the rules when playing against the Chicago Bulls on April 7 numerous regular players were not used, although they were not injured. have this “the integrity of our sport” harmed, said NBA Vice President Joe Dumars, according to a statement on Friday.
Before and after the game, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd made it clear that management had decided not to use players like Kyrie Irving or Kleber at all and Luka Doncic only briefly. He called it one “Organizational Decision”. However, the players used did not lose intentionally, the NBA found in its investigation.
Mavericks accused of “tanking”.
With only theoretical chances of qualifying for the play-in and thus a residual hope for the playoffs, it was obviously more important for the management around club boss Marc Cuban not to let the season balance become too good. The reason for this was an old transfer agreement with the New York Knicks.
If Dallas has the right to access a young player beyond the top ten for the first time in the draft after the end of the season, this so-called pick goes to the Knicks. However, if the Mavericks are among the top ten teams eligible to pick, they retain that right. The worse a team performs in the season, the earlier it gets a draft pick. In the NBA, the first access right is also raffled among the worst teams. With luck, Dallas would also have the chance of the exceptional French talent Victor Wembanyama.
It is not uncommon for teams in the NBA to accept many defeats in order to improve their position in the draft through so-called “tanking”. However, this is not discussed publicly and the comments from Mavericks officials have put the NBA under pressure. In 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 for publicly speaking about tanking on a podcast.