Q&A: Mark Cuban

Posted by Unknown on Friday, May 30, 2014 with No comments
Courtesy of SiriusXM NBA Radio 

I think you got a raw deal on your comments to Inc
Mark Cuban: I'm a big boy. I can deal with it. When I was talking about the price you have to pay and that people have become more vigilant, that's exactly what I was talking about. We live in a sound-byte world right now. I call it headline porn. That's what you need to get people to your website, to click on it, to get people to your app. So you pull out a sound byte ... Cuban hates hoodies, or Cuban thinks any black kid in a hoodie is a criminal. That gets people to click through. And that's the price you pay when you try to have an intelligent conversation. But the good news is, there's folks like you and others who will listen to it in its entirety and start a conversation and maybe something good will come of it.
How are you going to vote on the Donald Sterling ownership issue?
Mark Cuban: I don't know. If I think the ethical thing is to vote the other way of the 29 other guys, I will. I haven't made up my mind on anything because I don't know all the details. I'm not going to jump to conclusions. It's not fair to the process. Mess up the process and then he (Sterling) has a lawsuit forever. I'm not going to know until I hear the presentation (June 3). What he (Sterling) said was awful. It was horrific, it was racist. There's no place for it in the NBA, but it's not going to force me to make up my mind without hearing all the facts. When all this went down, I was probably the only owner that sat down with all my players and we discussed everything. Everything. Everybody's gotta be careful because everything has changed. And that's the slippery slope, part of the slippery slope I talked about. We're all going to be held to a different standard going forward.
On Jerry Jones
Mark Cuban: I like Jerry. I get along really well with Jerry. Jerry's a hustler. When I first bought the team, your guy - Dave Checketts - was the one, when he was working for the Knicks and they put me through this interview process in front of all the owners. He was like 'Are you going to be like that other owner in Dallas that owns the Cowboys?' I'm like, 'Hell yeah, I hope so. They just won two Super Bowls. His sales are going through the roof. I hope so.' Jerry's got more guts than I do. He built that stadium for a billion-plus. I look up to Jerry. I think the world of him.   
LeBron vs. Michael Jordan, who do you go with?
Mark Cuban: I think they're a toss-up in terms of talent. But MJ had to play against a lot more physical defenses and he was still able to rise above. I think LeBron is so big and physical; I would have loved to see him battle it out against the Charles Oakleys and Rick Mahorns. It would have been amazing. But he hasn't had to face those types of throw-you-on-the-ground defenses. That's the only reason I give Michael the edge.
When you're paying a player millions of dollars and they mess up, do you have to go to them and say 'What (expletive) are you doing?'
Mark Cuban: Oh yeah. Lamar Odom, I did it front of everybody, cause that's the way it had to be done. We tried. His head was not in it. Not into it at all. I tried to give him every opportunity, give him all the support he needed. Psychologists, whatever he needed, I tried to give it to him and it just didn't connect. It happens. That's real world. I had one guy, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, I said don't ever come back here again. I'm paying you. I don't care. I don't want you anywhere near us. It just depends. And then there's 100 stories you never hear about. You gotta put it in perspective. They've got lives outside of basketball that create pressure.
On Dirk Nowitzki
Mark Cuban: Dirk is the core to our culture. Every team has gotta have an identity. And how hard your superstar works, the kind of attitude they have toward the media, toward the other players kind of sets the tone in the locker room. You've seen where we put up the fun videos that the fans love. Dirk is the first one up there playing the fool. And that kind of sends the message to everybody else that we can have fun and not take ourselves too seriously. He's a great guy.
On Rick Carlisle
Mark Cuban: He's a great coach. He's one of the top 3 in-game coaches. Period. End of story.
What do you guys need?
Mark Cuban: Everything. The West is incredible.