Cuban applauds Dan Gilbert, wonders about player tampering

Mark Cuban is sitting courtside for the Mavericks’
summer-league opener against Denver, which they are getting drilled by 20
points in, and had some interesting comments about the LeBron James decision to
go to Miami.
 
Cuban said Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert has handled the
situation well by coming out with strong comments against James or abandoning
his hometown fans and franchise.
 
“As far as what
Dan did, it’s unfortunate that LeBron put the team in that position,’’
Cuban said. “I’m sure he went back and forth. But there’s
limited opportunities to get those types of deals done. Particularly when the
Cavs could have had lots o cap room. So I can understand Dan being upset. I
think his letter shows all the emotion that goes with owning a team.
Dan’s a passionate owner and he deserves a lot of credit for putting it
out there. Most guys wouldn’t have the guts to do it. He sent a message
to his fans that he’s not going to quit and LeBron is now the guy he used
to play for so what does he care?’’
 
Cuban also
stressed that the way Dwyane Wade, James and Chris Bosh formed together to all
go to Miami smells of tampering.
 
“I’m
going to bring it up to the league that we really do re-evaluate the issue of
player tampering,’’ Cuban said. “Who knows what will happen,
but I have to suggest it to them because there has to be more definitive rules.
It’s not just the Cavs. It could be any team. It could be the Heat in a
couple years. It’s not going to be easy, but you can ind a way to make
sure those guys don’t get together for a week before (free agency).’’