Dallas Basketball

NBA Insider: Mavs ‘March Tank Plan’ Shut Down By Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving

Though the Dallas Mavericks ultimately tanked in the final few games of the season, a report says that the team originally planned to tank sooner.

Michael Mulford

In this story:

It costs to build a championship team in the NBA, but apparently, it costs to tank as well.

On Friday, the NBA announced that the Dallas Mavericks have been fined $750,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league” due to resting key players while their play-in hopes were still alive. NBA Executive Vice President and Head of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars issues an official statement and said what Dallas did “undermined the integrity of our sport.”

Though Dallas was still mathematically alive in the play-in race, their chances became bleak after a 1-7 stretch, which led the Mavericks’ brass to rest the likes of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in the final two games of the regular season to help better their chance to keep their top-10 protected pick. 

But, according to The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, the Mavericks had originally planned to hit the tank button at the end of March.

"The tanking was actually supposed to begin sooner," O'Connor said. "My sources say that in late March, Dallas coaches met with players to discuss a plan for Markieff Morris and JaVale McGee to play heavier minutes. That is when the tanking was supposed to begin but Luka and especially Kyrie were agitated that the team was waving the white flag and both refused to sit."

Dallas ultimately got their wish and tanked the final two games to secure the 10th best odds in the draft lottery, but seems like it came at the cost of upsetting their two best players in Doncic and Irving in what's arguably the most crucial time in this franchise's history. 

You can watch the full clip from O'Connor below:

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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

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