Former NBA team owner Mark Cuban didn’t plan on selling his stake in the Mavericks, but he couldn’t turn down the opportunity when it passed him by. In a recent appearance on the “BIG Podcast” with Shaquille O’Neal, Cuban shed light on the process behind his decision and why he has no regrets about how everything played out.
Shaquille O’Neal: “Why did you sell the team and do you miss it if you;re allowed to talk about it?”
Mark Cuban: “I sold the team for two reasons: one, my kids 15, 18, and 21. It puts a lot of pressure on them as I get older to make a decision, are they gonna run the team? It’s worked out for some families and other kids just hate it, leave it resentful. I don’t want to put my kids in that position. And second, I always had an edge when I came in. But what’s happening now, and you saw it with Golden State, now with Boston, is you build all around the arena and the arena becomes a central point for some bigger real estate development. I don’t know sh*t about that. And for me to put up $1 billion and bring in a partner to run that sh*t for me, that’s a big risk. 100 people will come in and say ‘I’ll do it for you’ but I just don’t want to be in that position of not knowing or being able to control my own destiny.”
Mark Cuban was one of the most committed and well-known NBA owners and it was quite a surprise when he announced he’d be selling the team. Cuban initially became the majority owner back in January of 2000, when he bought the team from Ross Perot Jr. for $285 million.
Under Cuban’s watch, the Dallas Mavericks rose to prominence in the West and as the city itself developed, the franchise became an increasingly lucrative destination for free agents. During games, Cuban could always be seen rooting for his team and he sat courtside to celebrate when his Mavericks won their first championship in 2011.
In the modern age, Cuban ensured the pickup of Luka Doncic in the draft and has been pushing his team to build a contender around him ever since. Doncic led the Mavericks to the Finals in 2024, but they fell just short of winning the title in a series loss to the Boston Celtics.
Cuban, whose net worth is $5.8 billion, certainly had enough money to keep his place at the top but between the thought of added pressure on his kids and a feeling that he was out of touch with the new NBA market, he believed that now was the best time to walk away.
Cuban sold the franchise for $3.5 billion in 2023 and still gets to maintain some degree of power within the organization. Meanwhile, the Mavericks get an owner in Miriam Adelson with an endless wallet and enough resources to push the Mavericks higher than they’ve ever been.
It remains to be seen how the ownership change will impact the team, if at all, but with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving healthy, the Mavericks are bound to make some noise in the West and usher in a brand new era of prosperity.
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