Dirk Nowitzki, Rick Carlisle Respond to Cuban’s Tanking Comments

After Mark Cuban’s tanking comments, Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle both share their thoughts on their owner’s words.

Many people thought the major storyline coming out of the All-Star break in Dallas was the fact that Dennis Smith Jr. got robbed in the dunk contest, but now that seems like a year ago.

Over All-Star weekend, Mark Cuban made a guest appearance on Julius “The Doctor” Erving’s podcast where he talked about a plethora of subjects.

The most notable subject came when Cuban talked about the current team in Dallas and how losing might be the best option for them right now.

"“I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night. Here we are, we weren’t competing for the playoffs. I said look, losing is our best option. At least I sat down and I explained it to them. And I explained what our plans are gonna be this summer. That we are not gonna tank again. This is like a year and a half of tanking and that is too brutal for me” -Cuban"

You can read our full story on that here.

This quickly hit the national headlines as an owner of a franchise is admitting that “tanking” is the best option for them right now. Even though many franchises take this route every year, organizations never openly admit to losing on purpose.

This ultimately resulted in a fine from the NBA that came down on Wednesday for $600,000.00.

Wednesday was also the day that the team had a chance to respond to Cuban’s tanking comments and Dirk Nowitzki took center stage.

Dirk Nowitzki on Mark Cuban's quote about losing being Mavs' best option: "Players never play to lose. It might happen, but you don’t play for it. I still love to compete, that’s 1 big reason why I’m still out there. I’ll never stand for losing on purpose. It’s just not who I am"
— Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) February 22, 2018

In his 20th season, it hurts seeing Dirk having to talk about the things he did today.

Through all the aches and pain that Nowitzki puts himself through on a weekly basis, losing on purpose is a shot at his integrity and competitiveness.

Rick Carlisle had a chance to respond to the matter also.

Rick Carlisle on owner Mark Cuban's tanking comments that drew $600,000 fine from NBA: "I’ve talked to the team about that. I’ve talked to Mark about it in great detail last night and he apologized, profusely for those comments. He’s embarrassed by it."
— Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) February 22, 2018

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Can you imagine being a player whose job it is to compete at the highest level possible and your team owner is saying that the team will lose on purpose?

You can trace a bit of tension back to the last home game before the All-Star break when Rick Carlisle was asked about tanking after the game. When Carlisle responded with a quote about them winning “winnable” games he was quickly followed up with a question to define what winnable means.

“I think Mark is around, why don’t you ask him,” Carlisle said.

Next: According to Cuban, the Mavs Are Tanking

The team currently has the third worst record in the league with 24 games left in the season. I would expect the team to come out hot showing they have pride in winning basketball games.

After Mark Cuban’s tanking comments, Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle both share their thoughts on their owner’s words.

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