“That’s Just Petty”: Charles Barkley Agrees With Mark Cuban’s Distaste For Adam Silver And NBA Banning Him From His Usual Stadium Seats

For 23 long years, Mark Cuban was seen seated right behind the Dallas Mavericks’ bench in every arena the team played in. The second-row vantage point gave him the opportunity to listen to the players, coaches, and team personnel. As the franchise’s governor, he was keen to catch invaluable information from the team banter. However, after he gave up the role to Patrick Dumont, the NBA has barred him from sitting in his preferred spot. Naturally, Cuban was upset, and so was Charles Barkley.

Cuban detailed the entire to-and-fro that happened with the NBA on the Steam Room podcast, talking to hosts Barkley and Ernie Johnson.

“The NBA called me up last week…the week before and said, ‘Okay, no more. You can’t sit behind the bench.’ I was like, ‘Why?’ And they were like, ‘Just because it’s always been a rule and we let you slide because you were the governor, but you’re not the governor anymore. So, we’re gonna say you can’t do it anymore.. It was just really really really petty’,” said Cuban.

The NBA informed Cuban, who is still in charge of Dallas’ basketball operations, that he could sit in his preferred spot in the team’s home arena, the American Airlines Center. However, he has to sit somewhere else for the road games. Barkley was irked about the league’s diktat.

“I hate petty. Because as much as he has done for the NBA. He has been one of the great owners in NBA history and that’s [taking away his seat] just petty,” said the Hall of Famer.

Cuban revealed that he reached out to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to get a leeway. However, the veteran executive just repeated the league’s ruling to him, effectively barring Mark from sitting behind the Mavericks’ bench during road games.

Think of it, it is only a minor inconvenience for Cuban. He can easily pick another seat close to the bench to ensure he stays in the loop with the team.

However, the league’s move reeks of high-handedness. It also begs the question whether it was worth it to antagonise someone who has had such a long association with the game.