Dallas Mavericks billionaire owner Mark Cuban wants to give some more of his money to the league. Cuban, who has had several run-ins with commissioner David Stern over the years that have led to him emptying out his wallet, said he wants one more fine from the commissioner before he retires on Feb. 1 and he's told Stern that several times.
"We talk about it all the time," Cuban said via ESPN. "I'm going to have one final fine before he leaves."
Cuban made the comments on Wednesday, ESPN reports, before the Mavs suffered a 129-127 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers that prompted the owner to go to center court and confront the officials about their performance.
Cuban has received 19 fines by the league, 13 of which had to do with him yelling at officials or treating them in ways that the NBA deemed as inappropriate.
Over his 14 years as Mavericks owner, Cuban has paid over $1.8 million in fines, with his harshest penalty coming in 2002 when he said he wouldn't hire then-head of NBA officiating Ed Rush to be the manager of a Dairy Queen. That particular comment cost him $500,000. Most recently, Cuban was fined $50,000 last January after he took to Twitter to insult the officials again.
Cuban wrote: "Im sorry NBA fans. Ive tried for 13 years to fix the officiating in this league and I have failed miserably. Any Suggestions ? I need help."
Despite their run-ins, Cuban said he respects Stern, who will end his 30-year career as commissioner and turn things over to long-time deputy Adam Silver.
"One reason that I truly respect David is that he followed the rules," Cuban said per ESPN. "He didn't want to be king. He wanted to be successful and make the NBA successful. He was less concerned with his legacy than with creating results for the NBA. He knows that the results will stand the test of time and define his legacy."
Cuban said he "likes David a lot" and he "has always been receptive to me," while adding that he didn't do a good job with the officials.
"On the officiating side, that's probably the one thing I'd say he's failed miserably on, but I understand where he's coming from, because he doesn't have a horse in the race," Cuban told ESPN. "Win, lose or draw, as long as the business of the NBA is good, he's happy. I obviously have a completely different perspective, and that's where we clash. He doesn't care who wins. That's the difference, because I do."
As Stern's term as commissioner comes to an end, Cuban is determined to get fined one last time for old time's sake, and he may very well have earned a fine with his actions on Wednesday night.
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