It’s been over two years since Mark Cuban sold his majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont.
Since then, Cuban has had a change of heart, but not about the sale itself, he said in the latest episode of Intersections, a podcast hosted by former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and entrepreneur Kyle Waldrep.
“I don’t regret selling. I regret who I sold to,” Cuban said in a teaser clip released Monday. “I made a lot of mistakes in the process, and I’ll leave it at that.”
The franchise has experienced a significant amount of transition over the last two seasons, including an NBA Finals run, former general manager Nico Harrison’s decision to trade Luka Doncic, his subsequent firing and new leadership changes throughout basketball and business operations.
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Adelson, controlling shareholder of the Las Vegas Sands, paid $3.5 billion for majority control of the Mavericks in December 2023 with Dumont serving as the team’s governor and final decision-maker. Cuban told Waldrep and Leppert he sold the team he owned for 23 years because of the “big emotional commitment” attached to ownership and his reluctance to the thought of his growing children wanting to work for the team.
“I didn’t want that for them. It can be abusive, a lot,” Cuban said. “If fans don’t like what you’re doing or if the team’s not doing well, you’re the worst human being on the planet, and they treat you that way.”
Fans have voiced their displeasure for the team’s underwhelming performance throughout the season, most notably during the first 11 games of the season before Harrison’s firing. Since then, the home crowd has remained loyal with its support despite another year with more losses than wins.
The Mavericks were recently eliminated from playoff contention and will spend a second consecutive year in the NBA draft lottery, just two years removed from being a championship contender around Doncic.
The full episode of the podcast will be available Tuesday at 5 a.m. on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
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