What's Behind Mavs Owner Cuban's 'Dairy Queen' Beef With NBA Refs?
DALLAS - In the middle of the 2001-02 NBA season, new Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had hit a roadblock. He'd spend almost two years trying to reform the NBA's system of refereeing, which to him seemed like a good-ol'-boys group of self-governing egos unwilling to explore changes - including changes he'd proposed to include better training and professional management.
So he finally exploded with a clever taunt.
"Ed Rush might have been a great ref, but I wouldn't hire him to manage a Dairy Queen," Cuban said of the NBA director of officiating. "His interest is not in the integrity of the game or improving the officiating."
The quip garnered Cuban - and Dairy Queen - lots of attention. The owner soon showed up at the Dairy Queen in Coppell to "manage'' the fast-food store, right down to learning how to put the "curl'' atop the ice-cream cones. But it also earned Cuban a $500,000 fine, one of many assessed to him in his early years as a "maverick'' in the NBA.
Fast-forward to Saturday in Atlanta, and 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. ... and Cuban took to Twitter during and after the contest, using words like "absurd'' and "shit.''
And then: "I’m not saying it’s all against the Mavs. 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).''
There will debate about the specific calls (as addressed in the above link). But Cuban's point is, and always has been, about more than just an individual whistle. It's about the training, grading and accountability of the people in charge of the officiating.
That above comment is a tiny slice of the essence of Cuban's 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. It will earn him a massive fine. He will match that amount with a charitable donation. But will any of it improve the game?
As much as Mark Cuban raises hell over this bad call or that bad call, the beef isn't with this bad call or that bad call; it's with a system that allows them.
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