Mark Cuban is a force of nature. There is no other franchise owner like him. Jerry Jones is the only other owner in the history of the sport to come out from behind the curtain of the franchise, becoming a star in his own right. Maybe Robert Kraft belongs to that club, but his stardom is closer to notoriety. Cuban is definitely the NBA’s only superstar owner.
And in the years since the Dallas Mavericks made their league, his legend has continued to grow.
Mark Cuban and the Mavericks
Cuban is first a businessman and then a basketball fan. Success is in his blood. Cuban has been a fixture in Dallas, Texas since college. He started in the 1980s after he founded and later sold his own software reseller company.
During the 1990s, he would go on to form and sell a successful tech industry startup chain that culminated in the sale of broadcast.com to Yahoo for nearly $ 6 billion. Cuban is the essence of a self-made billionaire, according to Forbes.
In 2000, he turned his eyes to professional sports by buying a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $ 285 million. Under Cuban’s corporate leadership, the team has gone from the bottom half of the NBA in terms of record attendance and playoffs, to the next level, injecting new life into the franchise.
In 2006, they made their first trip to the NBA Finals and in 2011 they won their first title against the Miami Heat. Since then, Cuban’s public personality has continued to grow, even though the team hasn’t.
Mark Cuban: owner or brand?
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It could legitimately be argued that until 2011 all Cuban did was cultivate his brand. This includes winning the championship. Since then, his public persona has been less for the Cuban owner and more for the Cuban brand.
“The proof is in the pudding,” as the old saying goes. Since the Mavs have won, they have not come close to regain the title. Aside from a handful of appearances in the playoffs, the team lacked the overall momentum needed to return to the top. Which doesn’t seem to bother their owner at all.
Cuban, on the other hand, has seen his personal shares steadily increase. Over the next decade, he became more than just a software owner and pioneer; became a media personality.
Bleacher Report pointed out, he is best known for being the main host of Shark tank compared to his role with the Mavs. Despite his contempt for the current administration and the public back and forth with politicians like Ted Cruz via social media, there has even been talk that Cuban could take a page from Donald Trump’s book and run for election.
So where does an outspoken entrepreneur like Cuban go from here? Do you reinvest in basketball or move on to something else?
Always sell
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As the NBA struggles to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mark Cuban is ready to revive his brand. Throughout all the political turmoil and civil unrest, he was an outspoken voice and thought leader for the NBA.
He used his brand to actively challenge politicians on racism, social equality and financial aid during the pandemic. While he’s not paying his players as much as other owners, he was the first owner to make sure his players, as well as his stadium staff, received a salary during the height of the Coronavirus.
It is precisely that kind of leadership that needs to move forward to create a more socially aware and equal league that can fill the stands in a post-COVID world. But what about the game itself?
The Cuban brand is also ready to launch Mavericks 2.0. With the 2018 signing of Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic, Dallas once again has a leader on the pitch to match Cuba’s off-pitch progressiveness. After all, Cuban is a calculated man; when it comes to his most valuable investments, he only moves when the time is right.
