NBA: Mark Cuban reveals biggest mistake as owner of the Mavericks: “I still…”

The entrepreneur Mark Cuban recently sold its majority share of Dallas Mavericks and decided to talk a little about his time with the Texas franchise on the podcast Draymond Greenpivot of the Golden State Warriors. The rich man revealed what he considers to have been his biggest mistake in all the years he was in charge of the team: leaving Steve Nash go to Phoenix Suns.

Nash was NBA MVP and revolutionized the league's offensive game, starting his career in Arizona in 1996/97. But, he was traded to the Mavericks in 1998/99, where he evolved progressively. Even though he was not yet at his best, he was an All-Star and All-NBA for the Texan franchise, until he became a free agent in 2004. Cuban did not want to pay the amount asked for by the point guard.

NEWS: Mark Cuban says that letting Steve Nash leave the Mavericks was the biggest mistake he ever made.

“Two-time MVP, great guy – love him to death. We're friends again. But yeah, it was a mistake. The biggest mistake I ever made with the Mavs.”

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“I still remember what happened and how the negotiations took place. I can say then that it was a big mistake of mine. He gave us one last chance to negotiate a new contract with him, but I wasn't willing to pay what he wanted. I remember thinking something like Mike Bibby, similar money to what he was getting at the time. In the end, we lost him to the Suns.”said Cuban.

Returning to Phoenix, the Canadian experienced the best moment of his career, being elected MVP twice, leading the Suns to the leadership of the West and to the conference finals at times. However, he never managed to win a title, a feat that Dallas achieved in 2011, with Dirk Nowitzki. Cuban reaffirms that letting the star go was a big mistake and could have won another trophy in partnership with the German star.

“It wasn’t a question of disrespect for his game. We knew his quality and what he played at that moment, after all, he was already an All-Star. However, we were worried about injuries, about minutes. This ended up making us consider a lower renewal price. That's why we lost him. I also think it did him good, and put us in a bad position. He motivated himself even more, was a two-time MVP and became even better than he already was. I love him to death, we are good friends nowadays. But in the end, you know it was a mistake, and that we could have won even more with him here. My biggest mistake as owner of the Dallas Mavericks, without a doubt,” added Cuban.