Topline
The NBA fined the Dallas Mavericks $750,000 Friday for controversially sitting out its top players last week to secure a better draft position while still in playoff contention, chump change for the team’s billionaire owner Mark Cuban.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reacts during a game last month.
Key Facts
The Mavericks engaged in “conduct detrimental to the league” by sitting five of its six top scorers last Friday against the Chicago Bulls when the team still had a chance to reach the postseason but instead chose to jockey for a better pick in the upcoming draft, according to the press release.
Dallas “undermined the integrity of our sport” and “failed our fans and our league” Joe Dumars, the league’s head of basketball operations, said in a statement.
The Mavericks, whose 2023 first round pick will be conveyed to the New York Knicks should it fall outside the top 10, now have an 80% chance of retaining their pick, compared to 8.5% odds of keeping their pick had they qualified for the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Forbes Valuation
Cuban is worth $5.1 billion, according to Forbes’ latest calculations. A majority of Cuban’s fortune comes from the Mavericks, who are the eighth-most valuable team in the NBA at $3.3 billion, per our latest estimate. The $750,000 fine is little more than peanuts to Cuban, representing just .0001% of his net worth, and will shave just 1% off of its profit margins, estimated to be $143 million last season.
Key Background
The $750,000 fine pales in comparison to the $10 million penalty the league hit former Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver with last fall for racist behavior. Fresh off of an appearance in the Western Conference finals, the Mavericks entered the 2022-23 season with high expectations but struggled to string together similar success this winter, finishing the regular season 38-44. Dallas struggled even following the acquisition of controversial All Star guard Kyrie Irving, winning nine of its 27 games after Irving joined the team. Luka Doncic, the Mavericks’ leading scorer, was the only one of the team’s top six scorers to play last Friday, and expressed opposition to the idea of trying to lose for a better draft pick.
Surprising Fact
The NBA fined Cuban $600,000 in 2018 after he said on a podcast he told members of the Mavericks it’d be best for the organization to try to lose.
Further Reading
Even with Kyrie and Luka, the Dallas Mavericks quit. There is only one reason. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Mark Cuban Considering Leaving Shark Tank As He Bets His Legacy On Low-Cost Drugs (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/04/14/nba-docks-mavericks-750000-for-tanking-just-0001-of-billionaire-owner-mark-cubans-net-worth/