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Why you gotta love Mark Cuban
by: Shawn Griffin from SportsTerminal.com
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I'll be honest. I was never a Dallas Mavericks fan. When Mark Cuban bought the historically mediocre franchise in January of 2000 for $280 million, I had never even heard of the guy.
When I did first hear about him, I didn't like him.
But after the last couple years, Mark Cuban has turned into one of my all-time favorite sports owners. Why? Let me tell you.
First of all, the guy has a total passion for his team that no owner in the NBA can match. He generates excitement in Dallas over the Mavericks. That's not an easy task, but he's done it. He's willing to spend whatever is necessary for his team to win. Most importantly, he has the guts to publicly criticize NBA officials.
For those reasons, you gotta love Mark Cuban.
*The passion he has for the Mavericks is infinite. He attends every game, in the stands with the fans rather than in some glitzy suite. He's been fined by the NBA for making derogatory gestures during games, running onto the court, sitting on the baseline, and verbally abusing officials. That doesn't sound like a stodgy old owner to me, that sounds like a fan -- which is essentially what he is, which is why Dallas fans should consider themselves lucky. I haven't even seen the owner of my favorite NBA team. As a matter of fact, I don't even know if the old man is even alive anymore. That's how much he cares about the franchise. I wish my favorite team had an owner like Cuban.
*He's willing to spend whatever is necessary in order for the Mavericks to have the best chance to win. He signed Danny Manning, Johnny Newman, Tim Hardaway and other veterans to complement his young, talented team. Many owners would refuse to spend the extra money on guys like that. Cuban doesn't blink an eye before doing it because he knows it will help the team. That's his bottom line.
*He criticizes officials for making bad calls. This is something that is totally admirable. It's about time somebody stood up to the awful officiating in the NBA. I only wish the NFL had an owner with the guts to hire a statistics expert to document the unfair calls, like Cuban did for the NBA. Last season, he was fined seven times for a total of $505,000 for criticizing the officials. I have no problem with this. He is not whining about every call, just the ridiculous ones, which occur way too often. One of the greatest things he ever did was to freeze-frame a shot of a blown call on the Jumbotron during a game last season at Dallas' Reunion Arena.
Those are the main reasons why I like Mark Cuban. There are more, though.
Cuban criticized Shaq this season for his free-throw shooting. This really ticked Shaq off. Was this the smartest thing in the world to do? Probably not. But am I the only one who can't stand Shaq? The guy never has anything intelligent to say when interviewed (plus, he's usually barely audible), he sucker-punches other players (Brad Miller), and, even though he can't shoot a free throw to save his life, refuses to work on that part of his game. Take a look at the guy. I have always thought that he looks like he belongs on the short bus. His coach, Phil Jackson, said he would never want to work with an owner like Cuban. This is yet another reason to like the Mavericks owner. Phil Jackson is hands down the most arrogant "know-it-all" this side of Brian Billick. To Phil, I say -- win a title without Shaq, Kobe or Jordan. Then we'll consider you a great coach. Until then, you are just a passenger along for the ride.
Cuban was interviewed by MagEzine, an online sports magazine. He said the following:
"The NBA is run by five lawyers. When you have a company run by five lawyers, they're going to do lawyer-like things."
For those of you not sure about this quote, I am going to go out on a limb and assume that "lawyer-like things" was meant in a derogatory way….
He also said, "I'm passionate about it only because I want the best for the team. Sometimes the NBA needs a little 'tough love' and I'm the one to give it."
Which is why you gotta love Mark Cuban….
See more of Shawn's columns at SportsTerminal.com!
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