Does the NBA have a problem with tanking?

A few days ago, we reported the news that Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has been fined by the NBA for $600K. And even if it could’ve superficially looked like the umpteenth brag from the American entrepreneur, we also told you as it actually was a way more serious thing. Cuban, in fact, has been fined by the league because of publicly admitting (in a podcast with Julius “Dr. J” Erving”) to have told his players his will to “tank” for the rest of the season, willingly losing games to improve Mavs’ chances at the next Draft Lottery. But it’s not over.

The subject is quite tricky within the league, as proved by the strong response by Adam Silver with the aforementioned fine. Then, there also was Dallas Mavericks legend and leader Dirk Nowitzki’s words, that, of course, is against Cuban policy: “You don't really want a culture here that's just giving up and quitting and not playing hard. I think it just sets the wrong tone for the future. I think it's important for our young guys to learn how to compete and to compete all the time, play hard. You play your minutes hard. That's the only way to get better. That's the only way to play in this league, and whatever happens after the season, we'll just go from there.”

The problem, though, could even be wider and more implanted that it could’ve looked like. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, in fact, there could actually be “inverse analytics” in the NBA, that would be reports used to find the lest successful lineups, to gain those defeats necessary for the Draft Lottery. “NBA executives have detailed this to me”, told Windhorst, “And we’re certainly seeing that with the Dallas Mavericks. It’s being hidden under the guise of ‘player development,’ which is another way of saying we’re gonna put our young, less good players out there as opposed to our better older players, and that is more active tanking than we’ve seen before.”