It seems every single day another sports figure comes out against President Trump.
Athletes, coaches, and owners have become political and social activists seemingly overnight.
But one anti-Trump sports owner just got his comeuppance.
Dallas Mavericks’ billionaire owner, Mark Cuban, has been extremely vocal in his opposition towards Trump.
The New York Times once described their relationship as “longtime frenemies.”
But during the 2016 election,Cuban claimed he told Trump that he “was really concerned about a candidate becoming president who was not making an effort to learn the issues.”
That sounds like jealousy.
But Cuban has bigger problems than Donald Trumpafter a recent Sports Illustrated issue exposed sexual misconduct among his top people as well as the president of operations.
And not only are people wary of what Cuban actually knew, he’s also just been fined $600,000 for boldly admitting that he intentionally tanked this season to get a high draft pick.
The New York Times reports:
“A day after the Dallas Mavericks were the subject of a shocking expose on the team’s inappropriate workplace environment, things got worse for the team.
Mark Cuban, the team’s owner, was fined $600,000 by the N.B.A. on Wednesday for making public comments that were deemed detrimental to the league.
Cuban is no stranger to fines, having now amassed around $2.6 million in penalties since purchasing the Mavericks in January 2000. But unlike his typical infractions, which have come for criticism of in-game officiating, this instance involved comments he made to Julius Erving on the “House Call With Dr. J” podcast about intentionally losing to improve draft position.
Tanking, which has become fashionable for many teams in recent seasons, is a touchy subject for Adam Silver, the N.B.A.’s commissioner, who has been working to maintain the league’s competitive nature.
The difference was reflected in the amount of the fine, which is a personal high for Cuban, whose previous record had been a $500,000 fine for complaining about officiating in 2002.
During the podcast, Cuban was candid as usual, openly admitting what anyone who has watched the Mavericks this season could see was true.
“I’m probably not supposed to say this,” Cuban said, “but, like, I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night, and here we are, you know, we weren’t competing for the playoffs.
I was like, ‘Look, losing is our best option.’ ”
He then referred to Silver, saying: “Adam would hate hearing that, but I at least sat down and I explained it to them.
And I explained what our plans were going to be this summer, that we’re not going to tank again.
This was, like, a year-and-a-half tanking, and that was too brutal for me. But being transparent, I think that’s the key to being kind of a players’ owner and having stability.”
Between the sexual assault allegations and receiving his highest fine yet, Cuban may end up losing the Mavericks altogether.