Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently made his way to the Pat Bev Podcast. Among a range of questions, Beverley wanted to know whether Cuban had ever made trade decisions based on players’ vices, including partying, gambling, and smoking cannabis. Cuban revealed that he had traded young players in order to protect his team’s culture multiple times. He talked about how smoking too much cannabis can have an impact not just on the players, but on the team culture as well. Cuban famously waived Chicago Bulls legend and Michael Jordan’s ex-teammate Dennis Rodman, back in 2000. That, however, was due to non-vice reasons.
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Rodman had joined the Mavericks after spending a season with the Lakers. However, his time came to an end after just 12 games after he made some hugely controversial comments about the organization, according to Fadeaway World.
Mark Cuban reveals he has traded youngsters multiple times due to cannabis
Beverley wanted to know how Cuban, as a franchise owner, approached players and their vices when it came to his team. The Mavericks owner revealed that he has made several such decisions in order to protect his team’s culture.
Cuban said that while he doesn’t mind young players who “try it out,” unchecked smoking tends to have an impact on their game. Cuban revealed that he traded multiple players after having incidents of them coming to training “high”,
“I’ve traded guys cause they smoke too much,” he said. “Teams have their own culture, right? If you get some young dudes on there who are just figuring out what the team or NBA culture is, and you’ve got one dude that you walk down the hall in the hotel and you know he’s on that floor and there’s no doubt about it, and then all of a sudden these other kids start picking up on it. You see them coming out of their room. You see them a little bit red-eyed coming to practice all of a sudden. You don’t want them going down that road.”
In the words of the great Stephen A Smith… “STAY OFF THE WEED!” pic.twitter.com/qVv2pdSvh4
— Pat Bev Pod (@PatBevPod) August 30, 2023
While cannabis has largely been legalized in the US, it can still have an impact on professional players over time. Cuban, determined to protect his team culture and build the best possible squad around Luka Doncic, has had to make multiple bold trade decisions with respect to younger players.
Fans were worried about Mark Cuban’s comments on Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving has recently been linked with a trade away from the Mavericks. This comes after Mark Cuban’s comments about his team.
Cuban claimed that the Mavericks were firmly Luka Doncic’s team. Talking about Irving’s position in the team, he claimed that Kyrie should run to the corner if a Luka play demanded it.
The comments come despite Kyrie’s famous reluctance to play second fiddle to LeBron James during his time at the Cleveland Cavaliers. Still, now 31, Irving might be willing to show a greater ability to be the 2nd star on the Mavericks team in the upcoming season.
