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Wednesday, November 22, 2000
Cuban nicked for $25,000 this time
ESPN.com news services
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DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says his latest
fine for comments targeting referees may be the last.
Cuban was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for verbally
abusing and publicly criticizing officials.
It's the third time in eight days that the Internet billionaire
has been fined for the same reason. His previous punishments were
for $5,000 and $15,000.
"Although I don't mind paying the fines, this is probably the
last," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I have had
some substantive conversations with the league, and I like some of
the steps that are being taken. So we can stop talking about the
refs and the processes and talk about basketball."
Fearing he was becoming a distraction to the team, Cuban missed
his first two games of the season after his $15,000 fine Monday. He
returned Tuesday night and witnessed a 116-110 loss at home to
Seattle.
Cuban was fined $5,000 on Nov. 14 for comments he made during
the Mavericks' 109-84 loss to the Kings on Nov. 12.
And fines aren't Cuban's only recent problem. The Belo Corp. media group has sued him, contending he reneged on an agreement
to buy the company's minority stake in the team and the American
Airlines Center.
Belo, whose media holdings include The Dallas Morning News,
bought a 12 percent stake in the NBA team for $24 million in July
1999, when real estate developer Ross Perot Jr. was the team's
majority owner.
"We are reluctant plaintiffs in this dispute and are
disappointed that we have to resort to litigation to enforce Belo's
contractual rights," senior executive vice president Michael
McCarthy said. "Nonetheless, we intend to receive the
consideration Belo is entitled to under our agreement with Mr.
Cuban."
After sitting calmly through Tuesday night's game -- with his mother seated
next to him -- Cuban then waited outside the officials' locker room.
When they arrived, he said: "Am I mistaken or did No. 30 just hand
them the game? Nice game No. 30."
Gary Benson, the official who wears No. 30, called Dallas' Shawn
Bradley for a foul when he swung his elbows after grabbing a
rebound with 42.9 seconds left and the Mavs trailing 112-110.
Shortly before, Seattle's Desmond Mason's block of a short shot by
Bradley could've been called for goaltending, but wasn't.
"If that wasn't goaltending, I'll walk home right now," Cuban
told The Dallas Morning News. "It's disgusting that it comes down
to a referee's call."
Cuban has said the league needs to monitor officials better and
says he has charts showing how his team is treated unfairly.
Against Seattle, Dallas shot one more free throw than the Sonics.
"I have no problem if it's a good game, but if a ref steals a
game from us, how am I going to be quiet?" he said. "I'm not
criticizing the refs, really I'm not. But hopefully the averages
will start turning out in our favor."
The Mavericks did win a minor battle Wednesday in their quest
for respect from the league and its officials.
Utah's Karl Malone was fined $7,500 and suspended one game
without pay for backhanding Dallas' Christian Laettner in the face
during the first period of Monday night's game.
As for the lawsuit, the Belo Corp. media group's 1999 purchase included a 6 percent interest in the downtown arena
being built for the Mavericks and NHL Dallas Stars.
In January, when Cuban bought a majority interest in the Mavs
from Perot in a transaction that valued the team at $280 million.
The Belo stake increased in value to $34.7 million.
The lawsuit states that as part of the deal Belo had a right to
sell its stake to Cuban on the same terms as Perot. The company
negotiated a deal with Cuban to maintain the option to sell until
July, according to documents.
Belo said it intended to sell its Mavericks holding along with
other assets in June. Cuban's lawyer sent drafts of closing
documents in July, the company contends.
Cuban soon began complaining about the News' coverage of the
Mavericks, according to Belo.
Cuban said he decided to end negotiations with Belo over the
sale after the newspaper did not run a story on the day of an
exhibition game with the Miami Heat in October. There was no signed
contract because the two sides were unable to reach an agreement,
he added.
"The reason we were unable to reach an agreement was because I
had made it clear to Belo management that I was only going to sign
the agreement once Belo demonstrated to me that they were able to
consistently keep up their end of the deal, which was ongoing
editorial coverage of the Dallas Mavericks in The Dallas Morning
News," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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