Mark Cuban is the passionate, opinionated owner/fan of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind and he usually stands behind what he says. When Cuban sticks his foot in his mouth – he owns up to it and apologizes. He gets lots of practice too – just like this week.
After an agonizing loss Saturday night, Cuban made a disparaging remark about Denver Nuggets’ forward, Kenyon Martin. Where Cuban got into trouble is that he said it to Martin’s mother – who was in the stands – and not to Martin himself.
Cuban had reason to be upset since the officials made a mistake that cost the Mavs the victory in Game 3, and Martin, a Dallas native known for his physical play, was fined $25,000 by the NBA for a hard foul on Mavs forward, Dirk Nowitzki.
His temper was running high when Cuban exited the court. A fan yelled that the Nuggets were thugs, and depending on the account Cuban called Martin either a “thug” or a “punk.”
Word got back to Martin who said that he’d take care of the situation with Cuban face-to-face and not through the media. Smart move and good advice from his advisors.
Cuban admitted he was wrong 48 hours after the confrontation with Martin’s mother. A lesser person would have issued a statement through their lawyer or spokesperson. Not Cuban.
He issued a 400-word act of contrition on his blog and spread the word through his Twitter account.
Cuban stated what he did, what he could have done differently, and then went over an above to make amends, addressing Martin directly:
“When the series comes back to Dallas, your family, and the family of other Nuggets players are welcome to stay in my suite, with my family. Its amazing how tempers mellow when real people talk to each other and realize that its still just a game.
"If that isn’t acceptable, I’m happy to provide a suite, free of charge to them as well and place whatever security is needed to make them feel comfortable.
"We tried to have enough additional security for them tonight as well, but I know your family and friends didn’t feel as comfortable as they should. I apologize for that as well. This arena is my responsibility, we could and should do a better job.
"So if we can put this behind us, I will make sure when the series comes back to Dallas, your family and friends, and that of your teammates are very comfortable at our Arena."
It doesn’t matter that the Mavs are down 3-0, the series is in Denver and the Nuggets probably won’t play in Dallas until next season.
What does matter is that Cuban provided a sincere apology, and didn’t have to call a press conference to do it. Instead he posted a blog at 1:34 a.m., and his 41,000 Twitter followers got the message before traditional media received it.
Doing this ensured that Cuban got his message across.
Posted on
Friday, May 15, 2009
by Sean Taylor Simpson