Two days after former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban argued on X that the NBA should actually embrace tanking, current Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia used social media on Thursday to call out intentional losing and voice his confidence in league commissioner Adam Silver.

"This is ridiculous! Tanking is losing behavior done by losers," Ishbia wrote on X. "Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with. Embarrassing for the league and for the organizations. And the talk about this as a 'strategy' is ridiculous.

"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 whole league.   

"This is much worse than any prop bet scandal. This is throwing games strategically. 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.

"Awful behavior that Adam Silver and the NBA will need to stop with massive changes, and I have complete confidence that with his leadership, he will fix it. Those of us in a position of influence need to speak out… the only 'strategy' is doing right by fans, players and the NBA community."

This past Saturday, during All-Star Weekend, Silver conceded that the league's observed worse tanking behavior this season than it's seen in recent memory.

He also made it clear that he's considering "every possible remedy" to stop that behavior. Silver's open to changing the draft structure, and he didn't rule out taking away picks from tanking teams.

Last week, the NBA fined both the Utah Jazz and the Indiana Pacers six figures for "overt" tanking and, more specifically, for their nefarious roster management in recent games.

The NBA currently has seven teams with fewer than 20 wins. The Jazz and Pacers are among that bottom-dwelling group that's looking toward the future, including this year's draft, which most notably features four potential franchise needle movers: Kansas' Darryn Peterson, BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Duke's Cameron Boozer and UNC's Caleb Wilson.

The Suns, however, are in playoff contention. Ishbia's passionate post quote a Yahoo Sports story from Tom Haberstroh, who power ranked the tanking teams based on a five-factor system.

Despite hitting the reset button — moving away from Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal — Phoenix isn't tanking or even in rebuild mode. It's in seventh place in a crowded Western Conference table.

At 32-23, the Suns have maximized a roster full of players who have a chip on their shoulder.

Their performance and the organization's refreshing transition after carrying the highest payroll in league history last season give Ishbia's comments on Thursday more credibility.

Kevin Durant has found himself at the center of more "burner" account accusations, the latest that swirled on social media while the Houston Rockets standout played in his 16th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.

The 37-year-old's alleged to be behind direct messages from an anonymous account that criticized players and coaches he's accompanied during a career that's seen him win two titles and one league MVP award.

"I know you gotta ask these questions, but I’m not here to get into Twitter nonsense,” Durant told reporters after Houston’s practice on Wednesday. "I'm just here to focus on the season, keep it pushing. But I get you have to ask those questions.

Durant added: "My teammates know what it is. We’ve been locked in the whole season. ... We had a great practice today, looking forward to this road trip."

At the moment, there's no evidence that actually links these critical comments to Durant. Still, social media ran rampant with the theory, circulating screenshots of an anonymous user who, among other things, blamed Rockets All-Star center Alperen Şengün for his defense, said that they couldn't trust forward Jabari Smith Jr. to make a shot or get a stop and took a dig at former Phoenix Suns star teammate Devin Booker.

Durant is quick to quip, confront and discuss with everyday social media users from his own verified account, which currently has 19.3 million followers. He isn't afraid to stir the pot online or engage with casual fans. Many love him for that kind of engagement, which he willingly offers and most NBA stars don't.

Durant was asked at this year's All-Star Weekend media availability on Saturday if he'd rather give up video games or Twitter, now known as X, for the rest of his life.

"I'm gonna go Twitter," Durant said before continuing jokingly, "because they don't deserve to hear this God-level-like talk I'm giving to them. They take it for granted."

But Durant has used burner accounts before.

In 2017, Durant posted in the third-person from his personal account, throwing shade on the Oklahoma City Thunder and then-head coach Billy Donovan while explaining his decision from the previous year to leave the team that drafted him for the Golden State Warriors, a Western Conference foe and the league's crown jewel at the time.

Durant owned his mistake and apologized for it in the aftermath of the social media storm he caused.

In 2019, according to The Athletic, Durant said in an interview on ESPN's "The Boardroom" that he used anonymous accounts as a way to speak out and dodge the notoriety that's often impossible to hide from as an NBA player.

Durant is playing in his 18th NBA season. He's played for five franchises.

Now with the Rockets, he's still among the best in the league. He's shooting above 50% from the field and north of 40% from 3. His 25.8 points per game are tops on the team.

While fourth in the West, the 33-20 Rockets will need a strong push to grab the No. 2 seed like they did ahead of last year's playoffs.

Durant's trying to tune out the noise, even if it's once again loud and scrutinizing his social-media presence.