Mavs ‘did everything possible’ to tank: Cuban

Speculation about flailing pro sports teams tanking games at the end of a season to improve draft position often runs rampant. But rarely does a player or anyone associated with a particular team admit it. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did so on Wednesday after his National Basketball Association team finished 33-49 in its first losing season 1999-2000. “Once we were eliminated from the playoffs, we did everything possible to lose games,” Cuban said on The Dan Patrick Show. Cuban explained he didn’t tell his players to lose games on purpose. Instead, the Mavericks went with younger players down the stretch, which inherently decreased their chances of winning. The Mavs, who finished 2-8 in their last 10 games, finished eight games out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference Dallas entered Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery in the ninth position and remained there.