11-19-2025, 04:13 PM
(11-19-2025, 04:07 PM)khaled1987 Wrote: I think Cuban was an above average owner tbf, I look around the NBA and I don't think I can say there was 15 better owners than him, maybe not even 10 better guys.
I said that when fans were super high on the Adelsons after the finals, that they need to wait before making such claims, people were pissed at me and singing praise to the new saviour. There is always worse, far worse.
But Dirk & Luka weren't "above average" superstars. Both were top 5 in their eras IMHO, I think Dirk could have been ranked much higher in all time list than he was under different circumstances.
Cuban was also getting worse consistently after the ring. He was always feeling he is the smartest guy out there, and always trying new plan. That is weird considering how he admit that Rick Carlisle literally told him to shut the fuck up in 2011 because it causes negative distraction to the team, and when he did it actually worked well.
Surprisingly, I've high respect to Donnie now than a decade or more ago, because Cuban was interfering too much. Donnie wasn't without faults but the guy helped to get us Nash and Dirk in 98, got us Howard and Harris around 03 and 04, got Luka and Brunson in 2018. He always found some good undrafted guys like Barea, Maxi and DFS. Cuban also was the one that stopped him from getting Giannis back in 2013.
I would argue he was a very good owner prior to the championship, not nearly as much afterwords.
Donnie was also all in on Giannis but Cuban didn't want a "project". He had a great eye for European talent long before the league caught up.