“Throw a Zone Against LeBron James!”: Having Shelled Out $85,409,890, Mark Cuban ‘Proudly’ Reveals How He Had the ’Master Plan Against the 2011 Heatles

Mark Cuban is one of the most well-known team owners in the NBA. It isn’t only because of his popularity but also his public commitment to his team, the Dallas Mavericks. Cuban recently appeared on the Pat Bev Pod, where he talked with Patrick Beverley about several topics. One of those topics was the 2011 Championship squad. Cuban revealed how he came up with a genius plan that ended up helping the Mavericks take down the Heatles and how it involved planning around LeBron James.

Back in 2011, the NBA salary cap was set at $58 Million, with the Luxury Tax line sitting at $70,307,000. Having paid $17,582,574 as Luxury Tax for the 2009-10 season already, Mark Cuban wasn’t afraid to spend on his roster and help get a contending squad. He ended up shelling out $85,409,890 for the 2010-11 roster and had to pay $18.9 Million as Luxury Tax for the same. Despite shelling out so much, Cuban still claims it was his ‘master plan’ that helped the Mavs win their ring.

Mark Cuban reveals how he suggested the use of Zone defense, especially against LeBron James

Mark Cuban was recently talking to Patrick Beverley while as a guest on the Pat Bev Pod. They were talking about Rick Carlisle and his offensive strategizing. Cuban went on to talk about how Rick would try anything and said,

“Year we won, it was a preseason game against Chicago, and I was like, can we play Zone the whole game? Because the thing about back then, nobody practiced against the zone. So if you ran a zone, you always caught them off guard, and you can always get back in the game, and expand the lead. He said it’s a good idea, let’s try it. We ran it, and over the course of the season, we had a great season.”

He then went on to talk about how they used the Zone against LeBron James and the Heat in the Finals.

“We get to the Finals against Miami and throw a zone against LeBron[James]. All you had to do was to get him to hesitate. One, cause Bron’s always going to make the right play, he always wants to make the right basketball play and when you’re facing a zone and you have to read what they’re doing, that slowed them down. Gave us an edge.”

Mark Cuban had the master plan vs Bron in 2011 👀 pic.twitter.com/QWPXfNXRmK

— Pat Bev Pod (@PatBevPod) August 30, 2023

To have an owner who is close with the Head Coach and makes suggestions about active strategy is something you don’t see every day. Whether it was Cuban’s plan, the coach’s strategy, or the players’ execution, it landed the Mavs their first ring.

Cuban once revealed beating Dirk Nowitzki in a 1-vs-1

In April, Mark Cuban was with Rachel DeMita for an interview, where he talked about one of the first things he did after getting the Mavericks. He revealed how he challenged Dirk Nowitzki to a 1-on-1. Describing the same, Cuban said,

“First two weeks I bought the team, I used to play one-on-one with Dirk[Nowitzki]. I went by him and scored twice, and then he stopped me and one move and dunked. I quit, so officially, I’m 1 and 0 against Dirk.”