Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban should calm down

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban should learn to worry about controlling his team and not the media.

Earlier this week, Bleacher Report found themselves caught in the crosshairs of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. The controversy started when their twitter account posted a quick video of a Dirk Nowitzki airball with the caption “Dirk Forever.” It was a mild attempt at humor, but Cuban wasn’t laughing.

In fact, the billionaire was quite upset and decided to throw a fit. He reached out to Turner Broadcasting System President David Levy via e-mail demanding action. Cuban even posted a picture of the e-mails on his own Twitter account before later deleting them, but Deadspin has the entire chain of events outlined with screen grabs.

How did Mark Cuban react?

Apparently, Cuban doesn’t think it’s funny to laugh at an airball. Never mind that the website was doing nothing to actually discredit Nowitzki or his stellar career. Then there’s the fact that an airball can be pretty funny to see.

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I mean, it’s not high class comedy or anything like that, but when you miss a wide open shot and fail to catch the rim, the backboard, the State Farm logo on the support beam behind the goal, or even the beer guy on the sixth row, it’s going to elicit a few chuckles. After all, I’ve made my own fair share and have laughed pretty hard at myself afterward.

What Cuban fails to realize here is that there is more at play than just getting upset about your star player’s feelings. As someone that seems to champion free speech, this really seems out of character to him. But this isn’t even that big of a deal.

How did it come across?

Whether someone finds the tweet funny or not, this sets a really bad precedence. So, let’s play a game of “What if?” here. The Miami Heat are in town Monday night. What if Dirk is driving down the court when he tries to hit a pass to Harrison Barnes, but the two somehow miscommunicate and the ball ends up in the stands?

Mavericks play-by-play man Mark Followill mentions the play and color man Derek Harper then states something to the effect of, “Boy, that was a really bad pass by Dirk.” What will Cuban do next when he watches the recorded version of the game later Monday night?

Will he send a scathing e-mail to Fox Broadcasting co-chairpersons Dana Walden or Gary Newman demanding Harper lose his job? Are we no longer allowed to joke about bad plays?

Whether he found the tweet funny or not, is really beside the point. We’re in a day and age now where “freedom of the press” only means “you can say what you want until I disagree or take offense.” The press shouldn’t be worrying about whether or not an owner/billionaire/media mogul likes what they’re saying. This doesn’t give license to offend or berate anyone, but this clearly wasn’t the case in that situation. For crying out loud, they were laughing at an airball.

How should he have reacted?

For the record, I believe Dirk is a Hall of Famer. Without question, he’s the greatest player in Dallas Mavericks history. Mavs fans and the city of Dallas owe a lot to him for his service to the team and the city. He’s been a stand-up guy this entire time and he’s even been known to have a little fun at his own expense. I’d even be willing to bet he found the tweet funny.

Cuban should have just left the issue alone. Instead, he now sounds like a whiny brat that wants to take his toys and go home. The guy is a billionaire, has been on television for years. You’d think he’s encountered a wise guy here and there and has just let it roll off his back.

Come to think of it, he’s bantered with the guys on the Ticket locally and laughed with them as they joked about him. He really does seem like a guy that can take a joke.

How should we react?

In the end, had he not made such a stink about it, it probably would have just went right past most people without a second thought. Everyone would have moved on with their lives and the Mavericks would continue their strong second half like nothing happened. But now, Cuban looks like the bully and Bleacher Report fell on the sword for him.

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Then again, maybe I should keep my mouth shut about this. Maybe I’m the bad guy for telling someone he should have thicker skin and learn to take a joke. I suppose telling him to keep his mouth shut would make me guilty of the very thing I’m fired up about. So, let’s just all be friendly, hug it out and watch the Dallas Mavericks and cheer. But just be warned: If I find something funny and joke about it, don’t take offense. It’s only sports, after all.

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