"The year 2000 cracked open like a glow stick, flooding Dallas with new money and a new Mavericks owner, who had made his money selling his streaming site just before the dot-com crash. Like the 1990s Mavs, Mark Cuban wasn't polished and he sure as hell wasn't subtle. He was brash and argumentative, clashed with refs, and clapped too hard whenever Dirk Nowitzki buried a three."
"Cuban's thesis was simple: never play by their rules. The Mavs were his start-up. He improved nutrition, upgraded hotels for road games, bought a team plane, filled lockers with PlayStations, and fought the NBA's lawyers with the defiance of a rapper clapping off hundos in a strip club. This went against the NBA's old boys' club. For all his dot-com cache, Cuban was punk in practice."
"A quarter century later, the glow has dimmed. Cuban sold his majority ownership stake for $3.5bn to a figure less a dreamer than a ruthless businesswoman: Miriam Adelson. Since then, as a minority owner, he has little to do with the day-to-day running of the team, and has been sidelined by the general manager he once hired, Nico Harrison. Without the Mavericks to occupy him, Cuban has drifted on to a media tour."
Mark Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks in 2000 after selling a streaming business, bringing brash, internet-age ownership to a historically distant executive class. He prioritized spectacle and operational upgrades: improved nutrition, upgraded hotels, a team plane, PlayStations in lockers, and high-profile signings like Dennis Rodman. The team embraced cultural relevance and reached the playoffs in his first full year. Cuban later sold his majority stake for $3.5bn to Miriam Adelson and became a minority owner with limited day-to-day influence, sidelined by general manager Nico Harrison. Cuban has focused on media appearances and defended NBA figures while avoiding discussion of the Luka Doncic trade.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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