Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia launched a pointed public rebuke of NBA tanking Thursday, calling deliberate losing a disgrace that undermines league integrity. His comments arrived as commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged the issue had reached a critical level.
Responding to a Yahoo Sports report on X, Ishbia joined a growing chorus of voices addressing one of the season’s dominant storylines. Several teams received fines before the All-Star break for sitting healthy players.
“This is ridiculous! Tanking is losing behavior done by losers,” Ishbia wrote. “Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with. Embarrassing for the league and for the organizations. And the talk about this as a ‘strategy’ is ridiculous.”
“This is much worse than any prop bet scandal,” Ishbia added. “This is throwing games strategically. Horrible for fans that pay to watch and cheer on their team. And horrible for all the real teams that are competing for playoff spots.”
Ishbia’s position carries a notable conflict-of-interest caveat. Due to trades executed since he acquired the franchise in 2023, Phoenix holds no control over its own first-round pick until 2032, removing any incentive for his franchise to tank for the foreseeable future.
Silver, speaking at his All-Star Weekend news conference, called tanking “worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory.”
The league is weighing potential penalties, including stripping draft picks from offending franchises.
“It’s part of my job to remind everybody,” Silver said. “I understand what your short-term interests may be, but we’d better not lose sight of our fans here.”
Ishbia expressed full confidence Silver would resolve the matter and urged other NBA decision-makers to speak out publicly against the practice.