Mavericks Under Investigation by NBA for Sitting Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving vs. Bulls

The NBA is investigating the Dallas Mavericks after the team only played superstar Luka Dončić for a quarter in Friday night's loss to the Chicago Bulls, while Kyrie Irving and four other players didn't suit up at all.

"The NBA commenced an investigation today into the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks' roster decisions and game conduct with respect to last night's Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game, including the motivations behind those actions," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement (h/t ESPN's Tim MacMahon).

While the loss officially eliminated the Mavericks from play-in contention, the team was always a long shot to earn the final seed given that it would have needed to win its final two games and for the Oklahoma City Thunder to lose their finale, since OKC won the season series.

But while it was a long shot, the play-in was a possibility.

The Mavericks did have some potential motivations for throwing in the towel, however. Losing to the Bulls meant that the Mavericks stand alone in 10th in the NBA's overall standings, and the team's 2023 first-round pick is top-10 protected.

If it falls outside the top 10, it is owed to the New York Knicks. So shutting down the team's stars and losing out would seriously improve the team's odds of keeping its first-rounder.

So if the NBA can prove those were the motivations for sitting Dončić after a quarter and not playing five other players, it would seemingly fall under the purview of tanking.

"We put teams on notice," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told Phoenix Suns employees during a meeting with them in October, per ESPN's Baxter Holmes. "We're going to be paying particular attention to the issue this year."

He also called it a "serious issue" and said "hundreds" of meetings have been held on the matter.

As for the Mavericks, they haven't exactly denied that they were giving up on the season, though they haven't outright admitted it either.

Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters after the 115-112 loss to the Bulls:

"It's not so much waving the white flag. It's decisions sometimes are hard in this business, and you have to make hard decisions. We're trying to build a championship team, and sometimes you got to take a step back. Understanding with this decision, this is maybe a step back, but hopefully it leads to going forward."

At the very least, it's leading to an NBA investigation.