The Mark Cuban insider trading story was juicy, for like, a few hours. Then, after it sunk in, two things emerged that kind of made it less interesting: 1) It’s only a civil lawsuit, so the Mavs’ owner won’t be getting the Martha Stewart treatment, and 2) the detailed allegations prove Cuban is either brazen or too entitled to care … which probably explains why he traded for Jason Kidd last season.

(Nice to see his brother defending him, though!)

But a line in Cuban’s retort – “This matter, which has been pending before the Commission for nearly two years, has no merit and is a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion” – makes us wonder why a story that’s been sitting dormant this long all of a sudden pops up now.

When he’s in the midst of trying to become the owner of the Chicago Cubs. Predictably, the Tribune says these charges are going to hurt his chances. Ya think?

Charges dent Cuban’s Cubs bid (Tribune)