Mark Cuban admitted to telling players on the Mavericks that losing games at this point in the season represents the best course for the franchise.

“I’m probably not supposed to say this, but, like, I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night and here we are, you know, we weren’t competing for the playoffs I was like, ‘Look, losing is our best option,’” Cuban said on Dr. J's show. “Adam [Silver] would hate hearing that, but I at least sat down and I explained it to them. And I explained what our plans were going to be this summer, that we’re not going to tank again, this was, like, a year-and-a-half tanking and that was too brutal for me. But being transparent, I think that’s the key to being kind of a players owner and having stability."

Earlier in the season, Cuban spoke of a vastly different strategy after the Mavericks started the season 2-12.

"And until we're eliminated, we ain't tanking here, either," he said. 

"I still think we can turn this around."