Mark Cuban, despite having a minority ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, did not know about the trade deal that brought young superstar Luka Doncic out of the team.
Chandler Parsons, who was also a former Maverick, shared a story of when he texted Mark Cuban after the news of the Luka Doncic trade deal broke the internet. As it turned out, even Cuban himself only knew of the deal at the same time the general public did.
“I texted him,” Parsons said on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back.”
“I texted (Mark Cuban) and I said, ‘I’m so confused.’ He wrote back, ‘That makes two of us.” – @ChandlerParsons📲
The Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers shocked the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks.@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/3EyMZWBvgW
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 3, 2025
“And I said, ‘I’m so confused.’ And he wrote back, ‘That makes two of us.’ So that kind of tells you right there—he wasn’t involved.”
In 2020, Cuban was quoted expressing his strong desire to keep Doncic within the Mavericks, even joking about choosing to make the star player stay over his wife when it would come to it.
“If I had to choose between my wife and keeping Luka on the Mavs,” Cuban said back then, “catch me at my lawyer’s office prepping for a divorce.”
Mark Cuban became the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks in 2000 when he purchased the team for $285 million. He purchased the team when it was struggling. Back then, the Mavs only had a win percentage of just 40% and only one division title in their 20-year history. The franchise saw significant improvements under his leadership, including winning their first NBA Championship in 2011.
However, in 2023 Cuban sold a 73% stake in the team to Miriam Adelson and the Dumont family for around $3.5 billion. He retained a 27% ownership stake and continues to be involved in basketball operations as the alternate governor.
Fans Express Opinion on Mark Cuban “What If” Scenario
As an open fan of Luka Doncic, and having made the statement affirming that he would never trade Luka out of the Mavericks, fans cannot help but wonder if the shocking trade deal would still happen had the entrepreneur still had his majority stake at the team and not sold it only a few years ago.
One fan said: “Nico Harrison betrayed the entire North Texas region. He betrayed millions of fans in Europe who ADORE Luka and fell in love with the Mavs because of him. He betrayed Mark Cuban.”
Another said: “This how you know Mark Cuban hands are fully removed from the franchise decisions. He would’ve traded the city of Dallas before trading Luka.”
Similarly, one fan said: “Mark Cuban had his faults. However, Mark Cuban would NOT have done what the Mavs did tonight.”
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
