The Big Lead

Adam Silver breaks silence on latest Mark Cuban drama

By J.P. Hoornstra

Feb 8, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Mark Cuban watches the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center.
Feb 8, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Mark Cuban watches the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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Former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote in a Facebook post this week that he fully expected to run the team's basketball operations even after selling his majority share to the Adelson family in Dec. 2023.

Cuban, who still owns a minority share in the franchise, has been outspoken in his disappointment over the trade that sent star Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.

Included in the post was a specific allegation: that Cuban's ability to maintain governance over basketball operations was originally included in the contractual language of the sale, but removed at the NBA's insistence.

“Actually I fully expected to run basketball (after the sale). The NBA wouldn’t let me put it in the contract. They took it out,” Cuban wrote. “I thought they would stick to their word because they didn’t know the first thing about running a team. Someone obviously changed their mind.”

Thursday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver broke his silence on the spat.

"The ultimate governance was absolutely clear as presented to our board that the last word on any basketball activities or any significant decision for the franchise would be made by Patrick (Dumont), and I think Mark’s acknowledged that," Silver said, via Front Office Sports.

“And whether or not his expectation was that he would have played more of a role in basketball operations, I don’t think Mark has ever suggested that there was a contractual issue at play here,” Silver added. “That was just his understanding of what the arrangement would be between him and Patrick Dumont.” 

According to FOS, Cuban retained a 27 percent ownership stake in the team after the sale.

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