Suns owner Mat Ishbia blasts teams for 'ridiculous' tanking 'done by losers'

Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia criticized NBA teams for intentionally losing games to improve their draft positions, calling the practice "ridiculous" and "losing behavior done by losers."

In a social media post on Thursday, Ishbia linked a Yahoo Sports story about tanking, which resurfaced after NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the issue during All-Star Weekend. The Utah Jazz were recently fined $500,000, and the Indiana Pacers $100,000, for actions related to tanking.

"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."

He added that calling tanking a “strategy” is absurd. "If you are a bad team, you get a good pick. That makes sense. But purposely shutting down players and purposely losing games is a disgrace and impacts the integrity of the whole league. This is much worse than any prop bet scandal."

Ishbia completed his $4 billion purchase of the Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury from Robert Sarver in February 2023. The Suns, however, cannot benefit from losing games intentionally, as their first-round draft pick is controlled by previous trades until 2032.

"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 added. He played guard at Michigan State from 1999-2002, including the 2000 national championship season.

Silver said teams’ blatant approach to tanking is worse than he has seen in recent memory and warned that the league could impose additional penalties, including the forfeiture of draft picks.

"The competition committee started earlier this year re-examining the whole approach to how the draft lottery works," Silver said, adding that the league is taking a closer look at team behavior and reminding them of their obligations to fans and partner teams.

Ishbia expressed confidence that Silver would take action. "Those of us in a position of influence need to speak out," he said. "... the only 'strategy' is doing right by fans, players, and the NBA community."

—Field Level Media/Reuters