Mark Cuban Hurts The Mavs, Says Josh Howard

Godfather of basketblogging Henry Abbott has an in-depth Q&A with Dallas' Josh Howard at ESPN's True Hoop. The piece touches on Howard's famous political thoughts, his relief-filled Maury Povich moment, and the best Avery Johnson impersonations.

But the most jawdropping statement is this:

Abbott: What about Mark Cuban's antics on the sidelines? Dirk Nowitzki has suggested it might not be good for the team. You think it hurts the team?

Howard: Yeah. Put yourself in the referee's shoes. He's there constantly yelling. The coach is yelling. The crowd is yelling. Sometimes players are yelling. That's a lot. Plus he sends those video tapes in to the league. I understand he wants what's best for our team. I have no problem with it. But at the end of the day, it does hurt our team.

Nowitzki's previous comments got a lot of media traction this summer. But Dirk's thrust was more "Dude should calm down" rather than Howard's "Dude is hurting our performance." Cuban is obviously not concerned with public perception, but his team's performance is at the top of his priority list.

Your two top players have called you out for constantly attacking the refs from the sidelines. At what point do you decide to shut up?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-25-2007 @ 7:24PM

Mac said...

While he has definitely been an asset to the team overall....I think too much success can eventually remove a person for reality somewhat.
And the man has known a LOT of success

4-25-2007 @ 7:25PM

Joe McGovern said...

Did you see the game on Sunday night. Dallas was down 8 with 2 minutes to go when they stole the ball and were going in for a lay up. The guy got murdered. No call. Golden State came back and scored to put the game out of reach. I don't know if the Mavs would have won, but it was as bad of a no call as I have ever seen. the announcers tried to make the excuse that the defender hit the ball first and then there was contact, but you can't go through the ball and murder the shooter, especially on a layup. The Mavs player actually had to come out of the game, BECAUSE HE GOT HIT SO HARD THAT HE WAS LAID OUT ON THE FLOOR. i don't know, but it sure looked like the refs may not have made the call in a crucial part of the game right in front of Cuban to make a statement. It was bad!

4-25-2007 @ 7:30PM

Cuban is good for the game. Very enthusastic, and the refs need to be held accountable for their bad officiating. The NBA and baseball have to many games decided by bad officiating. They don't call walking, or fouls. Last year Dwayne Wade was allowed to take a bus ride to the hole on almost every play. They might as well put a helmut on and run with the ball!

4-25-2007 @ 8:19PM

mark said...

Mark Cuban is a idiot! GO JAZZ

4-25-2007 @ 8:17PM

martiansky said...

Joe, that was a pretty clean block, the contact was after the play.

On the other hand, I remember a play where golden state hit a three... and then Cuban jumps up and down screaming at the refs for no reason.. and this is why he kills the team.

4-25-2007 @ 10:34PM

Jared said...

I am a huge mavs fan and cubans antics last year single handidly lost them the chamionship. Cuban makes stern look like a fool, stern got him back in the NBA finals.

4-25-2007 @ 10:43PM

I am a huge Mavs fan, but Cubans antics last season single handedly lost the NBA finals. Cuban make Stern look like a moron all season long. Well Stern got his revenge in the NBA finals. Real mature. The game was not decided by the players, it was decided by Sterns huge ego. This year will be no different, Stern will pull his strings and get the team he wants to get the ring. The NBA is fake, and everyone knows it.

4-25-2007 @ 11:11PM

oh give me a break. listen, stern can control the whole thing if he wants, but the ONE THING he can't control is whether the balls go in or out of the basket. the mavs make some free throws, and its a sweep. they don't, so they lose. the mavs lost it for themselves.

4-26-2007 @ 1:13AM

mick said...

The SOB Ref who tossed out Baron tonight for his sarcastic clapping needs to be put in a pit with a rabid pit bull. Are you with me?

4-26-2007 @ 5:15PM

anny said...

Enough already with the "David Stern stole the title from the Mavs" conspiracy theories. They lost the Finals because they didn't play well enough, plain and simple. If Dirk had made his free throws and Josh Howard hadn't called a time out they didnt have, they would have won those games, and probably the series. The bottom line is, Dirk didn't step up and they couldn't contain Wade. It's so much easier to blame Mark Cuban, who is ridiculous standing on the sidelines screaming at the refs like a spoiled child, then to realize that the Mavs couldn't come through in the clutch. They will win the first-round, but an 8th seed should never be allowed to come into the #1 seeds house and beat them.

4-27-2007 @ 12:04PM

MIKO said...

i was watching that game and felt cheated. the mavs are suppose to be the power house of the league,yet the refs handed them the game. they complain about the officiating all the time when in the last game against gsw it was obvious the needed help to win it. so mark shut the f---- up and let punk azz dirk grow up and become a man. if they get passed gsw he'll punk out against amare.

4-29-2007 @ 1:26AM

lovell horten said...

Cuban is hurting his team just by showing his emotions and acting a fool. I feel for the good people of Dallas who have plenty of class; something Cuban knows nothing about.

5-01-2007 @ 6:53PM

Whatever said...

Give me a break - if the refs hadn't stolen the series from the Spurs last year, the Mavs wouldn't have gotten to the finals. There is no conspiracy to keep the Mavs down. They just have a habit of choking under pressure.