Mark Cuban’s decision late last year to sell his stake in the Dallas Mavericks came as a big surprise to many, but it was definitely a well-thought-out one.
The longtime Mavs owner Cuban appeared this week on “The Big Podcast with Shaq.” During the episode, Cuban spoke out on why he decided to sell the team.
Cuban said that he had two main reasons behind his decision. First, he did not want to put any undue pressure on his kids, who are now 15, 18 and 21, to have to take over the team. Secondly, Cuban said that the NBA landscape was shifting toward an emphasis on real estate development and building new arenas, something that he admitted he knows nothing about.
Here is the full clip of Cuban’s remarks.
Cuban, now 66, took over as owner of the Mavs back in 2000. He has long been known as one of the most hands-on and enthusiastic owners in the league and helped usher in a period of sustained success for Dallas (including three NBA Finals berths and a championship in 2011).
But Cuban has since handed off the reins of the team to the Adelson family (led by Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont), completing the sale of his majority stake in the Mavs to them in December 2023. That said, though, Cuban still holds a minority stake in the team, the title of alternate governor (Dumont is now the main governor), and control over the day-to-day operations of the Mavs as part of an interesting deal.
Shortly after the news of the sale broke last year, it was revealed that Cuban had a grand vision for the Mavs based around a new arena and on legalized sports betting. But rather than taking the lead on that himself, Cuban opted to pass the torch to an ownership group with more expertise in those fields than him.
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