Q&A: Mark Cuban

Courtesy of the Doug Gottlieb Show

On researching Rajon Rondo’s reputation before trading for him:

Cuban: “Give me examples? I love Rajon. I heard stories about how difficult and this he was and that way. I talk to him all the time now. I love talking to the dude. He’s a great guy. Maybe we just are on the same wavelength, but the way he approaches things, the way he looks at things, how hard he works, his desire to win, his competitive spirit – he’s not different at all. Then again, I’ve been around Dirk [Nowitzki] for 15 years.”

On how much Dirk taking a less expensive contract made the Rondo trade possible:

Cuban: “All of it. This trade was Dirk’s trade. Without Dirk doing what he did, we would’ve been unable to pull it all together.”

On if that sends a message to the rest of the league:

Cuban: “I hope not. I hope they keep doing…I want the biggest superstars to take all the money they can and diminish the flexibility of their teams. Everybody’s different. We all approach our lives differently. It’s not like Dirk hasn’t made a lot of money. He’s made a lot of money and saved every penny of it, he’s not a big spender. To Dirk, knowing him very, very, very well, it was all about competing. He’s seen how much I’ve spent and how the Mavs have lost money trying to win titles all these years and our ongoing conversations have always been him wanting to compete during his final years of his career more than anything, and that was more important than a few dollars more. Now, he doesn’t have five rings, he isn’t 30 years old like Carmelo [Anthony], everybody’s in a different scenario in their lives. What Kobe [Bryant] did, what Carmelo did, I respect what they’ve done, but Dirk is unique in a lot of respects.”