Mavs Won't Get Away With This: NBA Opens An Investigation Against Dallas Mavericks After Apparent Tanking

The Dallas Mavericks were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday night after losing to the Chicago Bulls, and just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for them, you learn on Saturday that the NBA is looking into how the Mavs handled the game.

Mavs Won’t Get Away With This: NBA Opens An Investigation Against Dallas Mavericks After Apparent Tanking

“The NBA commenced an investigation today into the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks’ roster decisions and game conduct with respect to last night’s Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game, including the motivations behind those actions,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in an official statement.

“Although the game officials could have taken steps to better manage this particular situation, that did not provide a basis for the extraordinary remedy of upholding a game protest,” the league said in an official statement.

NBA has launched investigation into Dallas’ roster decisions in last night’s Bulls-Mavs game and the motivations behind those decisions pic.twitter.com/WV8oVOrs54

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 8, 2023

Jason Kidd, the head coach of the Mavericks, accused Mark Cuban of choosing to waste the season and said that league commissioner Adam Silver may use him as a lesson to deter others from tanking in the future.

When his player shot two terrible bricks that would have knotted the game at the buzzer during Dallas’ defeat to Chicago, Cuban was observed laughing on the sidelines. Dallas Mavericks had blown an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The NBA has launched an investigation into the Mavericks’ “roster decisions, game conduct and motivations” behind the Mavs-Bulls game last night.

(via @espn_macmahon) pic.twitter.com/3oygkUQOJq

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 8, 2023

Benching the rest of their front-line players, and all but retroactively attempting to bench Ro Blackman, Derek Harper, Mark Aguirre, and Jim Spanarkel. The investigation against Mavericks was pretty much what was expected!

Yes, Dallas was inelegant in how it rolled out its obvious intent to tank. Yes, the result was embarrassing.

No, it does not merit an investigation, writes @davidaldridgedc.

Tanking is never easy. But sometimes it's necessary in small doses.https://t.co/lumU7Pc48z

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 9, 2023

If games aren’t played fairly, whether it’s to settle a bet or get a franchise player a winning lottery ticket, it discredits the sport.