Brian Windhorst cleared up a misconception about Mark Cuban’s role with the Mavericks.
When Cuban sold a majority stake in the NBA franchise to Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont, he was reportedly set to continue running the basketball operations of the team.
However, Cuban was not nearly as visible during the Mavericks’ NBA Finals run, Windhorst observed Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show”.
“First off, he was very distant throughout this playoff run. I think part of that is because we’re used to seeing him front and center,” Windhorst said.
“He did get like $2.7 billion [for the stake in the team he sold]. He still holds a percentage of the team but I think he walked away with like $2.7 billion cash in his bank account, so I don’t feel sorry for him.”
Windhorst then laughed out loud about Cuban’s present title with the team.
“But I think the title that he has, and think about the workshopping that went into this, I think his title is ‘Mavericks proprietor,’ which is really weird and I think they should get rid of. I don’t know what it means,” Windhorst continued.
“It sounds like the guy who’s running the country store. I guess he holds like 20 or 30 percent of the team. I don’t like that term. They made it up because he’s still sort of in this awkward situation where he basically helped construct this team but he doesn’t own it anymore.
“The way it works in the NBA: there’s no honorary owner. There is one governor, and that man or woman is the person who is the face of the franchise. Now if that governor wants to invite Mark Cuban to stand next to him or her when he gets the trophy that’s fine.”
Then, Windhorst revealed that Cuban’s level of control is not what was previously publicized.
“When he sold the team he was like, ‘I’m still running basketball operations.’ I don’t think so. You’re not the governor,” Windhorst said.
“In terms of basketball operations, you either are the governor or you’re not. He is not the governor. That’s just the way it is. He obviously had a lot invested in this team. He put it together under his watch.”