Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban supports players, slams Olympics setup – NBA Update
The firebrand owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has once again grabbed headline with some harsh words for the NBA and the Olympics. Cuban has weighed into the recent debate about the money in Olympics and whether NBA players should be paid for
participating, and he isn’t going to make many friends in the NBA head office with his comments.
NBA super stars Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics recently caused a stir when they said athletes should be paid for participating in the Olympics. The two players then faced criticism from many quarters, suggesting that they
were money hungry and did not care about the U.S. flag.
Cuban though has slammed all such notions. He had some choice words for the NBA, whom he believes are plainly stupid for handing over their players to the Olympics committee. Mark was of the view that the Olympics were a multibillion dollar business with
players being the key ingredient, why then should they be kept away from the proceeds generated.
"I think it's the biggest mistake the NBA makes," Cuban said. "If you look up stupid in the dictionary you see a picture of the USA Dream Team playing for free for corporate America so the U.S. Olympic Committee can make billions of dollars. “
Taking another shot at the Olympics and the NBA, Cuban suggested that if they had so much money to burn, perhaps they should hand some of it over to him.
“So if you come up with something that you own that you can give to me for free so I can make billions of dollars, I want it.”
To the question of patriotism, Cuban had a simple answer. It never was about patriotism. The Olympics is funded by large corporations who are also the ones to benefit from them. It was money that drove the Olympics, if he was wrong, then the Olympics committee
should give off all their proceeds to the poor.
That doesn’t happen.
"And it has nothing to do with patriotism and it's all about money. You don't see the (International) Olympic Committee in Switzerland saying, 'Oh, we made so much money, let's give it to people.' “
Cuban is known in the NBA for his fiery rants and he often does it just to infuriate the officials. However the owner’s latest diatribe makes a lot of sense, especially to the players who put their health in danger for basically nothing.
Cuban has said that he has raised the matter with the NBA in the past and will do so in the future. He hopes that he can bring it to a vote before the NBA board soon.
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