Mavericks criticize play-in tournament as Memphis Grizzlies breathe down their neck

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had negative words about the tournament

In Mark Cuban’s defense, he has been trashing the play-in tournament for a little bit longer. That said, he chose a 2-game losing streak that saw the Grizzlies come within striking distance to be the time that he’d complain about the tournament again.

Granted, Cuban’s comment was in response to a question about Luka’s comments, but it still seems like he feels extremely threatened by the team on Beale Street. Here’s what he said:

"“Rather than playing for a playoff spot and being able to rest players as the standings become clearer, teams have to approach every game as a playoff game to either get into or stay in the top 6 since the consequences, as Luka said, are enormous. So players are playing more games and more minutes in fewer days…” Cuban said about the 2021 play-in tournament format. “In hindsight, this approach was an enormous mistake,”"

The issue with Cuban’s comments is that he mentions the importance of resting high-usage players. In all likelihood, he is referencing Luka Doncic, who ranks first in the NBA in Usage Rate at 43.4. This argument helps him, but nobody is forcing him to run half of his plays through his point guard.

With all due respect to Cuban and the Mavericks, their criticisms of the play-in tournament seem to be coming at a time that is convenient to them. While the new system may be flawed, they weren’t so outspoken when they had nothing to lose as a 10th-seeded team in the West.

The Memphis Grizzlies will continue to grind, and as long as the Mavericks are paranoid about who could knock them out, the Grizz will have a good chance at making this year’s NBA Playoffs.