Mark Cuban Interview

[balla gurl]

Jun 23, 9:26 PM

Mavericks' Cuban one of a kind

By Jeff D'Alessio
FLORIDA TODAY




He lives in a 24,000-square foot mansion -- with a near-empty living room he uses for whiffle ball games.

He travels in his $41 million corporate jet -- which he bought on the Internet.

He receives up to 1,000 e-mails a day (mark.cuban@dallasmavs.com) -- and answers a lot of them personally.


Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, pumps his first from behind the Mavericks bench during Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals in the 2002 NBA playoffs in Dallas. Image copyright © 2002, Glenn James, Getty Images.

Mark Cuban is not your average billionaire sports owner. A self-described "beer and pretzels guy" who grew up in a blue-collar section of Pittsburgh, Cuban rips refs, pokes fun at his commissioner and fashions his Dallas Mavericks players' lockers with DVD players, stereos, flat-screen monitors and Sony PlayStations.

When asked what he's doing to shake up the NBA, Cuban says, "I'm adding a shot of Irish whiskey wherever I can."

The 43-year-old Cuban, who made his fortune off the Internet, chatted recently with Florida Today about the upcoming draft, officiating, Farrah Fawcett and more.

FT: Can you loan me a million bucks?

MC: Sure, the check is in the mail.

FT: Fantastic. How many times a day do you get questions like that from e-mailers?

MC: The amount varies, from $10 to $50 million, but I get it 100-plus times a day.

FT: What does it take to get a check in the mail from Mark Cuban?

MC: A very special circumstance.

FT: What's the best thing about being a gazillionaire?

MC: Besides not worrying about the bills getting paid, it's being able to send my parents wherever and whenever they want, and knowing I can afford anything at the Gap.


FT: You are often described as an Internet billionaire. What do they mean?

MC: I guess it's because I'm one of the few that made money from an Internet company and was able to keep it. My partner and I, Todd Wagner, started a company called Broadcast.com that broadcast sporting events, radio and TV stations, and business events over the Internet. We took it public and then sold it to Yahoo.

FT: Give us your best business tip.

MC: If you own a stock that doesn't pay dividends, sell it immediately. If you want to start a business, don't raise money. Use your blood, sweat and brains instead.

FT: OK, onto basketball: How do you stop Shaq?

MC: You don't.

FT: What can, or should, be done about the proliferation of high school players and young underclassmen turning pro early?

MC: Teams should be allowed to bring them in and scrimmage in five-on-five situations with current or former players. Right now, there are so many restrictions on who they can scrimmage against pre-draft that it's hard to truly evaluate talent. Without that proper evaluation, mistakes are made. We blame it on age, maturity, etc. Really, it's no different than any other business. In essence, we are asked to evaluate talent with a blindfold on, and that makes it nearly impossible for the youngest candidates.

FT: Is it ruining the game?

MC: No. It just makes it harder to make good decisions, and holds back teams that are rebuilding. If you have never seen a high school kid compete against NBA-level competition in five-on-five, it's hard to know how composed, strong and capable the person is, physically and mentally. That means more mistakes, which just holds back teams trying to use the draft to build a team. On the flip side, every team has the option of not choosing a high school player and not taking the chance. There were a lot of teams that passed on Kobe (Bryant) and (Kevin) Garnett that have done just fine.

FT: If you were the Houston Rockets, who would you take No. 1 in the draft?

MC: I can only get in trouble if I answer that question -- and I get in enough trouble with the NBA.

FT: There's been a lot written about the difficulties a team will have in dealing with the Chinese government if it drafts Yao Ming. Having dealt with China in the case of Wang Zhizhi, do you think it will be a big problem?

MC: Absolutely. It's a nightmare. They are not a democracy, you have to remember that, but they are a basketball-obsessed country, which makes it fun and interesting to deal with.

FT: What kind of official would you have made?

MC: A good one because I believe the players are smart enough to adjust to the rules. Our head of officials has publicly said he wants the officials to call the game according to the situation. See Referee Magazine, May 2002. I believe in what Michael Josephson of the Institute of Ethics says: You should call the game the same way in the last minute as you do in the first and every other minute. That is exactly the way I would call the games.

FT: All told, how much have you been fined by David Stern for sounding off on officials?

MC: Over a million dollars. Plus I match the same to charity.

FT: You must think it's worth it, huh?

MC: I love the NBA and our product, but like any business, if you don't do everything in your power to improve it every day, you fall behind. Like Rod Thorn of the Nets says, "If you aren't moving forward, you are moving backwards."

FT: How good a basketball player are you?

MC: I've slowed down a bunch, so I'm just a jump shooter -- and marginal at best. I used to be a pretty good rec player, but pretty much everyone says that.

FT: What player in the league right now is your game most comparable to?

MC: I wouldn't insult anyone with the comparison.

FT: True or false: You gave disco lessons while in college at Indiana.

MC: True. Got paid 25 bucks an hour to teach sorority girls. I would take the job right now if I could get it.

FT: Did you have moves?

MC: All the best. I could jitterbug, ballroom dance, entered contests, the whole nine yards. If there was a chance I could meet good-looking girls, I was there.

FT: True or false: You bought a $46 million jet over the Internet.

MC: True. A Gulfstream V.

FT: Did you get to see it first?

MC: Yes, before I wrote the check.

FT: Must be some kind of plane.

MC: Dallas to China in one stop. DirecTV, comfortable. It's amazing.

FT: Whose poster did you have on your wall when you were a little kid?

MC: Raquel Welch in "One Million Years B.C." and Farrah Fawcett.

FT: What's something people don't know about your star forward, Dirk Nowitzki?

MC: He can tap dance really well. Him and Steve Nash even have a little routine they will do before a game to get loosened up.

FT: What's in your CD player these days?

MC: Ludacris, DMX, Jay-Z, Cee-Lo Green, Juvenile and John Mellencamp.

FT: What do you want your last meal to be?

MC: Delayed.

FT: What was the last car you bought?

MC: A Lexus Convertible coupe.

FT: What's your favorite movie of all-time?

MC: It's always the last movie I saw -- "Sum of All Fears" in this case.

FT: Favorite actress?

MC: Denise Richards.

FT: Got a favorite Denise Richards role?

MC: Wild Things, of course.

FT: Of course. How about your favorite Dairy Queen treat?

MC: Heath Bar or Butterfinger Blizzard.

FT: Last thing, and it's probably none of our business, but how much are you worth?

MC: More than I was a few years ago.

[Drbio]

Cubes is a good interview. I like that he hasn't lost focus on real life.

[Kat]

Oh, pleeease.

[Drbio]

Seriously. The guy is ahard worker and yet he finds the time to enjoy the little things in life (that's not to say he doesn't enjoy the expensive things mind you). I think he is well grounded for a bazillionaire.

[Smiles]

<< ...A Gulfstream V.

FT: Must be some kind of plane.

MC: Dallas to China in one stop. DirecTV, comfortable. It's amazing. >>


See, that's why I am getting the same kind of plane.

[Drbio]

Can I fly in it at least once?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Smiles]

edit: oops you wanted to just ride in it? Oh, of course! Bring the family. We'll do lunch at this nice little park in Vienna.

[Drbio]

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]