The NBA has fined Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $600,000 for recently suggesting that his team was tanking this season.
The league found Cuban's statements, which came Sunday on Julius Erving's "House Call With Dr. J" podcast, "detrimental to the NBA," according to a news release Wednesday.
Cuban told Erving that he recently told members of the organization that "losing is our best option" in order to get a better draft pick. The Mavs (18-40) have the third-worst record in the league.
The fine comes one day after an explosive Sports Illustrated report outlined "a corporate culture rife with misogyny and predatory sexual behavior" in the Mavs' organization.
A month’s long investigation by SI discovered incidences of sexual harassment by the team president and sexual assault by a Mavs.com staffer, among other complaints. In a statement Tuesday night, the Mavs acknowledged "inappropriate conduct toward women" by a former employee.
Former team president Terdema Ussery is accused of public fondling and propositioning at least one female employee for sex, according to the report.
Earl K. Sneed, who has worked as a beat writer for Mavs.com since 2010-11, is accused of hitting a female Mavericks employee he had started dating in 2014. Two years earlier, he had pleaded guilty to family assault stemming from an incident with another woman.
Sneed was fired Tuesday.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban told Sports Illustrated he was embarrassed by the allegations.
“This is all new to me,” he said. “The only awareness I have is because I heard you guys were looking into some things…. Based off of what I’ve read here, we just fired our HR person. I don’t have any tolerance for what I’ve read.”
