In the aftermath of the most consequential trade in Dallas Mavericks history and recent NBA history, Mark Cuban was nowhere to be found. In needing a voice to look to, Cuban, once the principal owner and face of the operation, would seemingly be a suitable figure to absorb the anger and concern.
But as a minority owner of the Mavs, Cuban has as much say as any of us regarding Luka Dončić. Okay, that might be an over-exaggeration, but he’s no longer calling the shots in Dallas. And had he still been, Anthony Davis might not be looking for a high-rise apartment in the ‘Big D.’
Still, by the sounds of it, Cuban’s hands weren’t anywhere near this monumental trade that had Shams Charania thinking someone hacked his phone. That distinction belonged to general manager Nico Harrison, who tried to joke his way through Dončić trade questions in a brief press conference appearance.
Cuban isn’t hosting uncomfortable press conferences, but he’s expressing his feelings to the media. According to Chandler Parsons of FanDuel’s Run It Back with Michelle Beadle and Louis Williams, Cuban is just as confused as you are.
“I texted him and said, ‘I’m confused,'” Parsons said. “And he wrote back, ‘That makes two of us.’ So, that tells you right there he wasn’t involved. And, by the way, this new ownership — Patrick Dumont and the Adelson family — they’re business people. They’re Vegas casino real estate moguls; they know nothing about the NBA and basketball.
“So, they have fully given Nico the keys to do decisions and make big, bold moves like this. So, I believe Mark. I think this is just more of a shock… I texted him, and he literally said, ‘That makes two of us.’ So, he’s probably just as shocked as we all are.”
“I texted (Mark Cuban) and I said, ‘I’m so confused.’ He wrote back, ‘That makes two of us.” – @ChandlerParsons📲
The Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers shocked the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks.@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/3EyMZWBvgW
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 3, 2025
While Cuban might not have been involved, his shock—and the Mavericks’ future—speaks volumes about Dallas’s new direction.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.