'I Thought They'd Stick To Their Word...' - Mark Cuban Spills The Truth About Why He No Longer Controls The Mavericks
03/27/2025 10:24 PM
The Dallas Mavericks have been in shambles ever since they traded away Luka Doncic. The fans feel betrayed and there have been protests inside and outside the American Airlines Center. And while GM Nico Harrison is the target of most of the anger, former owner Mark Cuban has also been approportioned a share of the blame.
Mark Cuban sold his majority share in the franchise to Patrick Dumont and the Adelson family in November, 2023. When the sale occurred, Cuban claimed he would remain in charge of basketball operations. But that obviously didn't end up being the case. So what happened?
Fans have been looking for answers for a while, and Cuban unexpectedly provided them in some Facebook comments. His words were reported by WFAA.
"I fully expected to run basketball. The NBA wouldn't let me put it in the contract. They took it out," Cuban wrote. "I thought [the Adelsons] would stick to their word because they didn't know the first thing about running a team. Someone obviously changed their mind."
Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
If what Mark Cuban says is true, then the new owners reneged on promises that were made to him. It's naive to expect someone to stick to that if it's not contractual though, and the implication here is also that Nico Harrison was involved in convincing the new owners to not include Cuban.
The billionaire owned the Mavericks for over two decades, and built a culture of loyalty alongside franchise hero Dirk Nowitzki. He loved Luka Doncic too, but it'sevident that the new oners don't much care for what came before them.
Mark Cuban made $3.5 billion from the sale, but things haven't gone as he was hoping they would. And with Luka Doncic being traded away, it feels like the house that he and Dirk built has more or less been torn down.
