“The person who traded Luka didn’t want me there” – Mark Cuban gives explosive insight into losing control over Mavericks after $3.5 billion sale

The Dallas Mavericks are about to kick the tires on the Cooper Flagg era. The basketball gods rewarded them with an unlikely opportunity to get another generational talent just months after parting ways with Luka Doncic.

The Doncic trade was as shocking as it was controversial, and no one, not even former majority owner Mark Cuban, saw it coming.

When Cuban initially sold 72.3% of his stake in the Mavericks, the early reports suggested that he would still be in charge of basketball operations.

Fast forward to today, and the business mogul revealed that the NBA didn't allow that to be a part of the sale agreement:

"I mean, when I did the deal, the presumption was that I would still be running basketball," Cuban said on "The All In Podcast."

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Cuban admitted that he took a step back when the team made it to the NBA Finals because he didn't want to get in the way of decision-makers since the team was doing so well.

Then, he admitted that it was a mistake, as it paved the way for the front office to ostracize him and push him out of the way.

“The person who traded Luka didn’t want me there," Cuban revealed.

That might be a shot at GM Nico Harrison, but Cuban didn't want to offer any more details about the situation.

Mark Cuban could still make a lot of money with the Mavericks

Cuban's decision to sell the Mavericks was also a shocker, given how involved he was with the team for more than two decades.

When asked about that, he explained that it was all about diversifying his portfolio and adding other sources of income:

"In order to sustain growth to be able to compete with the new collective bargaining agreement, you have to have other sources of revenue." Cuban said in October 2024 on the All-In podcast.

The Adelson family, the new owners, is pushing for sports gambling to be legalized in Texas. That would leave the door open for building a state-of-the-art casino in the arena, and that would ultimately translate to a massive payout for Cuban:

“And so you see other teams in all sports for that matter talking about casinos, talking about doing real estate development. That’s just not me,” Cuban added. “If we’re able to build a Venetian-type casino in Dallas with an American Airlines Center in the middle of it, the valuation is $20 billion. But I own 27% of that.”

At the end of the day, sports are also a business, and while the fans won't always appreciate the decisions made, that's not going to change.

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About the author

Ernesto Cova

Ernesto Cova is a journalist at Sportskeeda with a PhD in Sports Psychology. His education helped him develop a clearer understanding of the sports world as a whole, including basketball. Ernesto has over eight years of experience in the field, working for Fadeaway World, The Inquisitr, NBA Blast, The Cold Wire and Bolavip, among others.

His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls because of the Michael Jordan era. Jordan is Ernesto's all-time favorite, as he changed the game forever. Ernesto's second favorite was Kobe Bryant because he embodied that same competitive fire and Ernesto watched him play throughout his entire career. Nowadays, Ernesto really likes Stephen Curry, who he believes to be the most influential player of the past 15 years or so.

Ernesto's favorite basketball moment was when Venezuela -- his country -- took down Canada to take home the 2015 FIBA Americas Cup.

When not watching or writing about basketball, Ernesto likes to read and is interested in photography.

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