CUBAN EXILED: Few sports figures today inspire as much divided opinion as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. His supporters call him a business and marketing visionary who speaks the truth about the evils of the NBA when few others dare, while detractors (like the loathsome Peter Vecsey) call him an annoying, whiny, uber-nerd who lucked into billions in the tech boom and parlayed it into sports ownership. Even though the Mavs swept out my T-Wolves in the first round this year, I have a great admiration for Cuban, simply because he's an honest, honorable executive who is one of the few sports owners to truly understand and emulate the perspective of the common fan- that, and he behaves the way you or I would if we owned a sports franchise. And he's certainly worlds more likable than fellow New Economy owner Daniel Snyder or fellow Dallas owner Jerry Jones. With tonight's elimination of the Mavericks at the hands of the Sacramento Kings, we've seen the last of this guy for the year, but better luck next year Mark- you deserve it.
Posted by Stephen Silver at May 14, 2002 01:22 AM