In an interview with NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving on his “House Call with Dr. J” podcast, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made some interesting comments that have landed him in hot water with the league.

Cuban openly admitted that he told his Mavs players that because they are out of playoff contention for the second successive season, their best option for the remainder of the campaign is to lose.

“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 told Dr. J, via The Dallas Morning News.

“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.”

This is probably one of the first instances in which an NBA owner has discussed tanking and Cuban has now paid the price.

Following these comments, the league immediately hit the billionaire with a $600,000 fine.

This amounts to one of the largest penalties in NBA history, behind the $2.5 million fine handed to former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for racist remarks.

In a statement, commissioner Silver said the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."

When asked about the hefty punishment, Cuban told The Associated Press: "I earned it. I got excited talking to Dr. J and said something I shouldn't have."

This is just the latest in a history of fines the 59-year-old has racked up during his tenure with the Mavericks. It now brings his total to a whopping $2,465,000.

Cuban's comments on tanking were not completely different from what he said at the end of last season.

“The Mavs, once we were eliminated from the playoffs, we did everything possible to lose games,” he told Dan Patrick in May.

Silver responded to this at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting this past July, saying: “It’s not what you want to hear as commissioner.

"I will say that Mark has a long track record of being provocative, and it was something that we spoke to him directly about. I think he acknowledged it was a poor choice of words."

This was seemingly a warning to Cuban and it's no surprise that his second strike has earned him the huge fine.