Mavs Owner Cuban Fined $500K For Anti-NBA Refs Rant As Protest is Denied
DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been railing against the problems with the NBA's system of refereeing for 20 years, and he did it again on Saturday in Atlanta, amid a Mavs 111-107 loss in which Dallas' injury issues (both Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis sat), poor down-the-stretch execution and a handful of bizarre refs rulings greatly impacted the game.
Cuban took to Twitter during and after the contest, using words like "absurd'' and "shit.'' And now comes yet another fine.
This one is a whopper handed down by NBA commissioner Adam Silver: $500,000 for "his public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating,'' the league has announced. Additionally, the Mavs' protest of the outcome of the game and request to replay the final seconds has been denied.
Cuban has a true and long-standing criticism of a system that has been improved over the course of the last 20 years (in part because of Cuban's public and private nudges) but that isn't advanced enough. But the fine is understandable and predictable, as is Cuban's usual habit of matching that amount with a charitable donation. (Marc Stein notes that Cuban's publicly-announced NBA fines now total $3.1 million.)
But the fine doesn't change Cuban's long-held views.
"I’m not saying it’s all against the Mavs,'' he said recently. "It’s just in general, this is a training issue. This is a management issue. Is it as bad as back in Dairy Queen? It literally could be worse (than that).''
