Draymond Green Show - Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban joins 'The Draymond Green Show' to discuss dropping out of high school, selling his first business for billions, joining 'Shark Tank,’ why he sold the Dallas Mavericks, the upcoming NBA TV deal, having the largest bill in LIV nightclub history after winning the NBA Finals with Dirk Nowitzki, how Cuban pulled off drafting Luka Doncic, why Kyrie Irving is misunderstood, the “We Believe” Warriors, losing out on Steve Nash, a funny Shaq story, and more.

00:00 - Start
08:00 - Shark Tank
13:00 - Buying Mavericks
24:00 - Selling Mavs
41:00 - LIV nightclub
42:00 - Acquiring Luka
50:00 - Trading for Kyrie
01:00:00 - We Believe Warriors

Produced by: Jackson Safon

#Volume #Herd

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

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The volume.

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All right.

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Speaker 2 (01:39):
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Greenshaw.

Speaker 5 (01:42):
I told you all last week that we had a
guest coming on that I was really excited about an
NBA owner coming on. And you know, this for me
is a dream come true because it takes me back
to a story that we'll get into a little later.
But a little banter we have back and forth, and

(02:03):
if you know anything about me, I'm all for a
good banter. I don't take any banter personal. I'll dis
some banter out. You can dis some banter back. I
absolutely love it. And this guy in particular, he's known
for being involved, right in your face, super energetic, super excited,
talking to the ruffs, just like I talked to the

(02:23):
RUSS bantering back and forth. He O Bencher with a player.
I absolutely love it. And more importantly than all of that,
he's an NBA champion. Can I want to welcome none
other than the legendary Mark Cuban.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Welcome to the Draymond Green Show, my friend.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Thanks for having me on Dremid. I really appreciate it,
looking forward to it.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
Absolutely No, it's and the story that I'm getting that
back in I don't know, maybe about six seven years ago.
Now I said something publicly and you said back, if
he wants to understand business, I'll get him in a
Kelly Business School right now. For those of you out

(03:04):
there that don't know what Kelly Business School is, one
of the top business schools in the world. It is
at IU Indiana University and Mark. By the way, I
have a younger sister. She's now twenty three years old.
She graduated right up at the top of her class
at Kelly Business School two years ago.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
She was the business speaker.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, she's the smart one in the family.

Speaker 5 (03:24):
Right, absolutely, far smarter than me. That's for sure.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Make a really smart a good thing.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Absolutely, you know.

Speaker 5 (03:32):
But number one I have to ask I know that
you are from Pittsburgh.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Please tell me you're Pittsburgh Still a fan?

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Oh, hell, yes I am. I mean you might have
a Duke ca Dukes fan. Man, Yes, took it to them,
like go Dukes man, it's been fifty five years when
I like, when I was growing up, I went to
their basketball camp, the du Cane basketball camp. It was
at Robert Morris where five Star was right so it
was the camp right before five Stars started. That was

(04:00):
a big deal. So I've been a Duke Cane Dukes
fan my entire life.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
That is amazing.

Speaker 5 (04:04):
See this guy's intends he's watching college basketball. I love it.
I absolutely love it. No, but you know, I just
want to get into number one, like early life before
you know all the great.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Business moves that you've made.

Speaker 5 (04:19):
Just talk to me about skipping your senior year and
actually enrolling in college because for me, like we're starting
to see more kids do that now actually in basketball.
So just skin, can you take me back there and
like walk me through the thinking behind that.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Sure, I went to Mount Levenan and High School in Pittsburgh,
and I always wanted to get into business, and my
junior year they would not let me take a senior
level economics class, and so I was like, okay, whatever,
I want to see if I can take college classes.
So I signed up and registered at the University of

(04:54):
Pittsburgh my junior year to take night classes and I
took I forget psychology and so geology or something, you know,
no big deal, and I did good at them. Right,
So I'm like, okay, I got this. If I can
you know, do okay in classes at night, what do
I need to go back to, you know, for my
senior year in high school where they won't let me
take business classes. So I just picked up and skipped

(05:15):
my senior year and went to the University of Pittsburgh
and started taking classes there, joined the fraternity. So I'm
literally supposed to be a high school senior, right, and
I'm joining the fraternity and going back to my high
school to take some girl to prom. Right. All of
a sudden, I went from being this dweevy guy to
like that guy. And so it was fun. Man. I
just wanted to challenge myself and just see if I

(05:38):
can do it, and I could, and that just gave
me confidence going forward.

Speaker 5 (05:42):
That's so interesting because when you look back, like when
you look back at successful people like you can always
go to something and be like, look at that thing
right there, like to have that thing as a sixteen
seven year old and say, no, I'm actually want to
move on from this to how the courage to go
to your parents to say I'm skipping my senior high school.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
You don't understand I didn't go to my you know,
because I paid for it. When I took those classes
at night, I mean, they were excited. I told him that,
right because I wanted to show them I was doing it.
And then they were I'm like, okay, I'm taking those classes.
I'm just going to you know, go to college. And
didn't really get into the part that I had to

(06:23):
drop out of high school in order to be able
to do it. So I literally was a high school dropout.
And it was only after I like my sophomore year
in Indiana, I forget exactly that I called back up
to the high school and asked him if I could
take my college credits and use it to be able
to graduate high school.

Speaker 5 (06:39):
Wow, that's incredible, that's that is absolutely amazing. So you
go and you graduate from Indiana Kelly Business School, and
how soon is it that you move into creating broadcast
dot com.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
Oh no, it was wow. Right. So I graduate and
I go down to Dallas and I get a job
at night as a bartender, and then I get a
job working selling software, and long story short, I get
fired from that job, realize I'm a shitty employee. Go
start a company called micro Solutions that gets me really
hardcore into technology. So I learned how to program program

(07:15):
for like seven years and we were one of the
first companies in the country to like connect PCs together.
Back then, it was a big deal. Sell that by
lifetime path on American airlines, travel around the country, around
the world, party like a rock star. Just have you know,
I'm thirty years old. Just have the best time ever.

Speaker 5 (07:32):
Man.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
I was just living the life. And then one of
my buddies from IU and I get together. This was
ninety early ninety five, and he was like, look, there's
this you know internet thing. You're the technology guy. Can
we do something to be able to listen to IU
basketball down here in Dallas? Because literally, to listen to
the game, we would have somebody up in Bloomington put

(07:53):
a radio next to a speakerphone and then call a
long distance down to us, and we would listen on
a speakerphone down to Dallas, like a six pack, twelve
pack or whatever. And yet get up while we're listening
to the game, you know, it wasn't on TV nothing,
And so I'm like, let me figure this out. And
so we started a company called audio Net and that
was the first streaming company. And then when we started

(08:15):
to get into video, we changed the name to broadcast
dot Com, took it public in nineteen ninety eight, it
was the biggest IPO in the history of the stock
market at the time, and then sold it. But yeah,
so that was the start of the streaming industry. And
that's how I really, you know, that's why you know
my name. That's why that's how I was able to
buy the mass That's amazing.

Speaker 5 (08:33):
Five point seven billion dollars. To sell something for five
point seven billion dollars today is crazy. Five point seven
billion dollars in nineteen ninety nine, right, I was nine
years old, by the way, just to make you feel old.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
Trust the ownership makes me feel load.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
My question though, you just said something very interesting to me.

Speaker 5 (08:55):
You said you bought an American Airlines lifetime tames just
out of curiosity. Would you still happen to have access
to that pass if you wanted?

Speaker 1 (09:05):
No, because I gave it to a friend.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
Okay, Okay, you.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
Traveled a lot for me because you worked for me,
so I gave it to him because I bought a plane,
you know, and so I hadn't need it.

Speaker 5 (09:15):
Yeah, I was about to ask you, can you transfer
it over to me if you still you're fast forward
twenty eleven. You become a shark on a shark investor
on Shark Tank. Talk to me about that, because that
feels to me like something you get into. Obviously you

(09:36):
are who you are in the business world, in the
tech world. I've actually seen you out here some of
the tech things before. But talk to me about actually
like going public with that? Was that more of the
competition in it? Kind of to drive you to do that?

Speaker 1 (09:50):
It was you know, network television, right, it was a
chance to be on something. You know, television is a
lot different back then, regular TV was a lot different, right,
you know, to be on something you know in ten million,
fifteen million people could watch you was cool and but
it was you know, because they asked me to come
on as a guest first, so they kicked the dude off,
and then they had Jeff Foxworthy come on to do

(10:10):
three episodes, and then they asked me to come on
and do three episodes. And I'm like, look, I don't
know if this business the show is going to last.
It's about business. Who knows, right, probably not gonna last,
but I'm gonna come on. I'm just gonna raise health. Right.
So I got on there and I'm buying everything. You're right,
I'll give you a deal. I'll give you a deal.
I'll give you a deal. And then it was just
like they were like, Okay, you get it. I loved it.

(10:33):
It really sent the message to kids more than anybody,
that the American dream is alive and well if you
bust your ass right, and people coming from you know
up you know, Michigan, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Texas standing on that carpet,
pitching us and going from nothing to something. I mean,
that gets people excited. It teaches them about business, and
to be part of that that felt good. And so

(10:56):
you know, I did it on a whim because I
didn't know what to expect. But I stayed with it
for fifteen years now because now kids are coming up
to me Hey, you know, I've got this idea. I'm
learning about business with Shark Tank. Parents come up to me,
my kids. You know, it's a show we all watch together.
It's great, right, So that's why I've done it so long,
and I just I just think it's an important message.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
That's incredible because it's it's a great show.

Speaker 5 (11:20):
You know, I've watched it for years and it's absolutely incredible.
How much success do you see coming out of like
companies that you find through Shark Tank.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
You know, it's like anything else, Like you invest all
the time, Like we had Bogy right here, would tell
me about your poker games and all the guys and
all the investments and shit, you know, Iggy the same way, right,
guys are like own little investment club, and so we
would talk about it, and it's about the same way. Right.
You got some big hits and then you got you
know that what the fuck was I thinking? You know, joints? Right,

(11:50):
And so I've had like Dude Wipes has gotten really big.
You know, they could do two hundred million dollars in
business this year, and I forget like two hundred and
fifty grand for twenty percent of the company or fifteen
percent of the Yeah, you know, Beatbox Beverages has just
blown up. They'll do two hundred million dollars in business
this year. They just did a round at two hundred million,

(12:14):
and they're doing you know, fifteen seventeen million in eb
But I was able to take some money off the table.
There mush packaged oatmeal that you see. They're killing it.
They'll do one hundred plus million dollars in sales this year,
and then there's ones you've never heard of, right, and
then I've had the exit you know, where I've made
you know, ten million or twenty million. So honestly, I
was right around break even losing up until about two

(12:37):
years ago. And then these last three years, those three
companies have just blown up. And so you know Callers
and compan Co is another company. It's just I've had
some really good ones that I've taken off the last
couple of years.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
That's amazing, that's incredible.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
And to see that type of deal flow as you
get to see it, yeah, that's.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
About killing it either, you know, because I've done deals
where it's somebody that I know I can make any money.
Probably gonna lose my money, but you know it sends
a message right that Hey, if I look like this
person and they got to deal with Mark, anything's possible.
And to me, that's.

Speaker 5 (13:10):
Important, absolutely, And that's going to bring us back to
a topic later because I do want to talk with
how you work, about how you work with your employees,
but we'll get there.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
So I think it's absolutely amazing.

Speaker 5 (13:20):
I'm gonna just go ahead and throw that out there,
with what you've done with your employees, with the selle
of the Mavericks. I saw what you're doing even after that,
you know, not washing your hands with it because you're
still very involved, but to give back to people who's
helped build these businesses. I talk about that all the time.
So we'll get into that. But so in two thousand,

(13:42):
after selling Broadcast dot Com in ninety nine, you then
go on and you buy the Dallas Mavericks. When you
bought the Dallas Mavericks in two thousand, did you think
like you look up twenty twenty four years later and
that you'd be selling that thing for three and a
half billion dollars or war wasn't more fun for you?

Speaker 1 (14:04):
No, it was. It was all by fun. It wasn't
like I'm gonna buy this thing. Look, I'm a lucky
motherfucker in the world, right, you know, to come where
I come from and then all of a sudden to
have a bee, multiple bees next year. Name. I never
imagined that, right, And so you know, my dad did
upholsterry in cars, and his thing was always about you
only have so much time on this earth, and you
better enjoy it, right, And that's what I tried to do.

(14:27):
You know. My motivation always, Yeah, I wanted to get paid,
but I wanted to get paid so I can bring
control my own time, right, And so I got an
eye watch. I never the day I sold micro Solutions,
I took off my watch and said, I'm never going
to wear a watch again because I never want to
be on anybody else's time. I wanted everyone else to
have to work to my time, right, and so that

(14:49):
that to me, Like when I bought the MAVs, that
was the thing, right, I was forty forty one years old.
I would play pick up three, four or five times
a week. So the you know the idea of going
and getting up shots with Nash and Dirt and Finley's,
you know, and getting into little runs every time and
not completely embarrassing myself back then, right, I mean that

(15:11):
was like a dream, so, you know, and like negotiating
that deal, I didn't even negotiate. I was just like, yes, whatever, right,
and it was done. I walked in, changed some things
up and just you know, it was a riot. But
I never thought, honestly, I never thought I would sell
it at all. But you know, the world changes.

Speaker 5 (15:31):
Yeah, no, I mean, it's been incredible to watch what
you were able to do with that franchise. Like I
remember growing up as a young kid and like the
Dallas Mavericks being the laughing stock of the NBA.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
Very similar to how the Warriors were.

Speaker 5 (15:44):
And we like being the laughing stock and to watch
that and you draft dirt and well you didn't drive dirt,
but you kept dirt, and you know, but to have
Dirk and the guys that y'all had coming through there,
and to watch you build up the Alice Maverson to
what they've become is absolutely amazing.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
How made it easy though, obviously?

Speaker 5 (16:06):
Yeah, well, I mean, but here's the thing, though, you
take over the team in ninety nine, y'all don't win
the championship until twenty eleven. To stick with Dirk for
twelve years. That says a lot about you, though.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, look, he was my guy no
matter what, thicker than right, and you know some this
game is hard, right and it takes a lot of luck, right,
you know, you you know, and you know the story
like Monte or Steph right here, you're going to take
you know, for boggy, and so you know you try
not to. You know, I let Nashville. I mean I
might have had as many rings as you if I don't,

(16:41):
you know, if I make a different decision there, and
so you know, sticking with Dirk wasn't hard, but trying
to figure it all out, it's always hard. And the
game changes every single year. You know, right now the
teams are so much more talented. You know, you could
ride one horse, two horses back then, right, yes, and
two guys on the court that couldn't shoot, one defender,

(17:04):
one rebounder, just a different game and one guy could
get you fifty wins in the season. You know, it's
not like that anymore. But all the way through you
have to adapt and try to figure it out. But
you know, Dirk was just kind of a cornerstone that
that just made.

Speaker 5 (17:18):
It easy, absolutely I got a lot of respect for Dirk,
and we'll get more into that. But I know you
you watch everything, and you not only do you watch everything,
you know way more than any of us knows, but
and watching what Steve Balmer is doing with the new
Arena and how he's trying to cater to fans. What

(17:39):
is one of the changes that you would make to
the to the in game basketball experience for fans like
you being a huge fan yourself but being in it,
what's the one change or one change that you'd make
to better the experience for fans in the new Arena?

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Well, I mean, Steve, you know it's great, like Steve
talks about the bath rooms, right, because you want to
get people back into their seats because if they're not
in their seats, they can't be cheering, if they're not
making noise, because that six man is the real thing, right,
So you know that energy. You know, people don't like.
When I got to the NBA, I used to give
them shit all the time because the top spots, David

(18:18):
Adam and down, they were all lawyers. So I used
to say, NBA nothing but attorneys, right, and you know,
and I would give them shit I'm like, dude, you
don't even know what business we're in. You think we're
in the basketball business. You want to hear sneakers squeaking
because that's what they did in nineteen fifty six. I'm like,
when you go to a game, you feel that energy
that is unlike anything else you can get. You can't

(18:39):
get that watch in front of a television, right, you
can't get that when you feel that energy, and you
feel it when you walk on the court, right, even
like the worst matchups, right, there is an energy there
and the fans feel it. And you know when it's
bad matchups, there's usually more kids in the spand so
that's loud, right, And so you know, I when I
got there, it was all about how do you keep

(19:01):
people people's heads up. And that was before it was
hardcore cell phones, right and wireless and everything. And so
now like you want to do as many things as
you can so that people's energy stays up. You want
to always be entertaining. And parents are bringing their kids,
and so you've got to make sure that that kid's
attention span doesn't wander because if the parent has to

(19:22):
pay attention to the kid because the kid is on
this phone or whatever. You're not going to have that
energy because you want that kid screaming. Right. So it's
like I learned an early lesson that. I was like,
what the like? And you see it too in two
thousand or in twenty twenty four, you shoot T shirts
into the stands.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
They're other than.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
A game winning bucket, right, Those people are going nuts
for the T shirts, right, and so like, okay, let's
get people's heads to stay up and pay attention. So
you'll see us do videos a lot. And so the
Jumbo trins have gotten you know, an amazing now because
people have to look up, you have to keep that attention.
You'll see the courts, so you know, they've been testing

(20:06):
see through courts that actually show videos right in our LCDs.
You know, you saw it at the All Star, right,
but it was kind of weird because we're kind of smushy, right,
and it was a little bit different. So they got
to get that better. But for me, it's like anything
that keeps your head up and the energy of right,
It's like Bamber's trying to do that one section where
you have to have like we when first started and

(20:29):
we stopped this a few years ago, like if you
came painted up as a MAVs fan, we had a
whole section that was free, right, Yeah, we had three
hundred people competing for one hundred seats, right, and everybody
would be all painted up. And so you know, it's
all about energy because that's where the fans give you
an advantage. And you know it gets harder because things

(20:49):
get more expensive, and so you know, it's like you know,
the front row, you know, whether it's Chase, whether it's Dallas,
whether it's La wherever, even Milwaukee. Right, those are the
people that pay to get you know, to get closed
and yell, and everything's hard. They're not putting on the
T shirts on during the playoffs, right, So just trying
to come up with ways to keep that energy up.

(21:10):
That that's the mission in any arena.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
No, absolutely, I definitely understand that.

Speaker 5 (21:15):
And you know we feel that energy and you feel
when it's not there, like you can feel when energy
leaves the arena. And it's sometimes tough because we start
looking to the crowd for a little energy. They're almost
looking to us for a little energy. And when you
have those different type of activations and things with the
Jumbo try, it can sometimes help organically spark them.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
That helps organically spark us.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
Like we do these original videos where we make the
guys on our team the stars, right, and the guys
are up and they you can feel it, right, and
you can feel when you do something where there's the
old standbys that get you know, get loud or you know,
the big like we'll do a Hoosiers video where they're
all clapping and all that, right, anything it takes to
get get the crowd going, because that can be the

(22:01):
difference between and losing, right, and not just on the court,
but them coming back and having a good experience, you know,
because if the game, even if the game sucked, right,
and no matter what forty one regular season games, there's
gonna be some stinkers both ways. Right. That's as long
as you can find ways to keep kids involved, they'll

(22:22):
keep that energy up and they'll keep them because if
you're a parent, like how old are your kids now?

Speaker 2 (22:27):
My kids are nine, seven, three and four months.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
Coret right, thank you, So that nine to seven year old,
right when you go to a game with them and
you're no matter what the sport, and you're looking in
their face and you're looking in their eyes and you're
seeing that smile. They got the cotton candy and they're
doing their thing. Right. That's all you care about as
a parent. That is the experience you remember the first
time your aunt, your uncle, your dad, your mom, whoever

(22:53):
it is, your buddies took you to a game or
you went together, and your parents they remember it forever, right,
You'll remember that feeling forever. And that's what we get
to do at the NBA. And that's what I kind
of try to emphasize for our people, right because that's
what people remember and that gets us w's too because
when those kids are screaming with that cotton candy, it's

(23:16):
a win win.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Absolutely no.

Speaker 5 (23:18):
I and my wife actually brought it to my attention,
uh and kind of made me do it. But it
was a good thing in our arena, you know, where
the comp seats would get there, they'd be a little
higher up. And once my kids started getting a little older,
she's like, hey, they want to see you, like, they
want to be able to make contact eye contact with you.

(23:39):
They want to be able to almost talk to you.
And so I bought some seat. Can't of force, I
can't afford of course, I seat that Chase in it
there a little too expensive, but we got some seats
pretty like pretty close to the car, and it changes,
it actually changes the entire game experience for me who's
playing like me, ask you.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
A question, absolutely, because you see your kids there.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
Do I hold myself back?

Speaker 5 (24:08):
Yeah? Absolutely, because, like you know, and like, for instance,
the instances this year, I was very thankful the game,
not the game where I had some things happen my
kids weren't there. But but it definitely like makes me
maintain a sense of control when I know they're they're
right there in the stands, that they're watching it right there.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
So when Jake's at the game looking at me now
that he's fourteen, or my other daughters and they're rolling
their eyes.

Speaker 5 (24:36):
After me, it changes everything, right, No, No, for sure,
So I definitely understand that. But I read something where
you said your investment, well, your cell of the Mavericks
is an investment in specific partners as well as a

(24:56):
bet on real estate being important to the future of
the of NBA ownership.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
What was the reason.

Speaker 5 (25:03):
Can you share a little bit more or clarify a
little bit more of that for me or for our audience.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Look at Chase right with Joe and that whole crew
did right. Joe went and put together the group. It
was all private funding and they build a place that's amazing,
and that's where they make more of their money. I mean,
I don't know all the numbers, but that's what I
would bet, right because and look how much they spent
to get there. I don't know that shit at all. Right, Yes,

(25:30):
you know I did this because I love basketball. I
didn't do this to try to make as much money
as I could. You know, when we would do stuff,
it wasn't like Okay, I got to hit this budget
and it'd be like okay whatever, and that it was
good sometimes and it got me in trouble sometimes, right
because I wasn't paying attention to that side. But now
with the new CBA and the way media is changing,

(25:51):
I know technology and media cold man. I grew up
with that. I know that stuff in and out. I
couldn't build a Chase Center if I wanted to. My
new partner, the Patrick Dumont and the Allison's, that's what
they live for. Man, the sand He runs the Sandsport,
and you know, they're the biggest casino people around the
world and they build arenas. This is what they live for, right,
and so you know, like on Shark Tank, I always

(26:13):
say I'd rather have twenty five percent of a watermelon
than one hundred percent of a grape, right, yes, down
to right. I just you know, because I just I'm
not good at asking people for money. Let's go put
together this thing, you know. I just I love the game.
I love being part of it. I love the energy.
I hate losing, right, and I hate the pain of

(26:33):
it all. But I know what I'm good at, and
I know what I suck at, and I wasn't going
to try to lie to myself and do something I
couldn't do.

Speaker 5 (26:40):
That's special and the smartest people in the world. You're
also smart because you know what you don't know. And
that's one of the things that I've tried to figure out.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
You know.

Speaker 5 (26:51):
Obviously I'm thirty four now, so I've been doing some business,
but and getting the people around me that knows what
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Basketball, though, right, you know your role, and when your team,
when everybody in their team knows your role, you're pretty good,
even if even if everybody's not as talented as another.
When you don't people don't know their rules, the roles.
That's when things go to shit, right. And it's the
exact same way in business. And the hard part is
going through all the ups and downs getting that squad

(27:20):
together right, because everybody's got their own goals. Everybody's got,
you know, a limited career where they've got to accomplish
certain things. Some guys just want to stay in it's
all different. Well, in companies, it's the same way, right, somebody,
you know, it's just a start to their career. They
don't want to stay in this city forever, so they're
not going to be there forever. Somebody's been at it
for you know, fifteen years. They know it's getting you know,

(27:42):
longer in the tooth. It's harder for them to keep up,
but they have this wisdom and experience. How do you
make all these people in the company mesh? And when
you're trying to invest in new things, particularly like when
things are changing or new industries, whether it's AI and
the tech side or real estate and all the changes
that are happening, and you got to know how to
put together that team. I didn't. I don't and I

(28:06):
just didn't fit my skill set and you know it
wasn't like I was paying them to come in. I
was getting paid for the right to do that. So
it was a win win situation. And I got stay
with the basketball side, you know, and you know, run
out in the court when Kyrie hits an insane shot
and I'm end up poll On like, you know, that's
the best part about owning, at least now owning part

(28:27):
of a team or owning the whole team. Back then,
that shots in the air, everybody's heart's pounding. I get
to run on the court and not got arrested.

Speaker 5 (28:35):
Man, the best they ever absolutely And by the way,
when you started doing that, that brought not only did
it bring life to NBA ownership, but I think it
brought a totally different perspective to how people viewed NBA owners.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
No one was as involved.

Speaker 5 (28:54):
No owner was running on the court going crazy.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
You have no idea like the guys like when I
first got there, the old dudes like inherited the teams
want them in a poker game or whatever, right they
I'd be in a meeting and at one time they
were like, shut the fuck up, You've never done anything
in this league. And then I called the dude by
the wrong name because I just got there and just
like it was like they were just killing me all

(29:19):
the time, finding me. Like the first time I got fined,
we were in Minnesota, and I always wanted to set
the tone that there was no job on the basketball
side that I wouldn't do right, even on the other
side for that matter, business side. And so I want,
you know, the the guys who sit on the floor,
they equip me guys, and then they'll get up, they'll
take your jersey whatever, give you warm ups and everything.

(29:41):
I'm like, I'm sitting with those dudes right because I
want to get to know them better. I want to
see their job and I want to be closer to
the team, just get the feel for the vibe, right,
And they find me one hundred thousand dollars. I think
it was my first full year for conduct unbecoming an owner.
I'm like, you ain't seen nothing yet, David.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
That's hilarious, is it? So?

Speaker 5 (30:03):
So so? Right now after the sale has been completed,
by the way, I'm sorry, congratulations on that. I think
you know so many times, you know, I have a
I'm really sorry because I have a huge pet peeve.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
You know, just like yourself.

Speaker 5 (30:21):
We have friends that are doing incredible things, and so
oftentimes because our friends have had so much success, right, Like,
you see something where it's like, oh, Mark One's so
broadcast dot Com in ninety nine for five point seven
million dollars, So I don't really need to hit him
and say congratulations about selling them for three point five million.

(30:44):
I have three point five billion, excuse me? Right Like,
And that happens so oftentimes to people that's had success
over and over and over again, and so I apologize
congratulations on that.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
It's okay. I'm okay with.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
No problem.

Speaker 5 (31:00):
But so, what is your role currently now with the
Dallas Mavericks once you've completed the set up?

Speaker 1 (31:07):
Just basketball? I don't have anything else, you know, Nico
and me and just you know, because when you're the
general manager. By the way, Nico has done a phenomenal job, right,
he's stud but there's still there's the sense of a
general manager is different than the sense of an owner,
right because the owner's got to think not just in
terms of one year or even three years or this

(31:29):
contract or next time. You've got to have a longer
horizon and you've got to think more in terms of
the CBA, and you know, you're the bigger picture. How
much money you're willing to lose and luxury tax right,
how much you're willing to spend. You got to make
that decision right where you know, the young manager just
wants to win or keep the job whatever it is, right,
So it's just a different perspective. And and plus Nico,

(31:51):
you know, is new to the basketball side, and so
there's somebody got to be that guy that that's been
there a long time and is done in a long time.
So it's a great partnership of working with the guy.
And you know, it's been easy for me to give
him more and more responsibility because he's so good at it.

Speaker 5 (32:05):
Yeah, No, Nico is incredible. I had the opportunity to
work with Nico for my first nine years in the NBA,
I want to say when he was with Nike, and
he he was always incredible. He was always very honest,
which I can always appreciate.

Speaker 2 (32:22):
He was always extremely honest with me.

Speaker 5 (32:25):
If I if I called him and I'm like, Nico,
I want I want to I want a signature shoe,
Nico's response probably would be, Dre, I love you. You
can't sell a signature shoe like always just but just honest.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Silent assassin. He's like silent assassin, right to pull no
punches whatsoever exactly.

Speaker 5 (32:46):
And I think that's absolutely incredible, And I was so excited.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
Like I know, Nico had teetered.

Speaker 5 (32:51):
Around with some assistant GM jobs throughout the years. I
think the Spurs was one of them, and a couple
other maybe the Lakers was one of them. He was
you know, him and Kobe what they built. And I
was so excited to see him get the opportunity to
be the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks because I
know what type of person Nico is, and I know

(33:12):
the type of loyalty you've shown to players who's played
for you, coaches, who's coach for you, general managers, who's
been the general manager of your teams. I know the
type of loyalty, And being in this business, I care
about Nico, Like we built a great relationship.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
I still talk to Nico to this day.

Speaker 5 (33:28):
Like being in this business to see him uproot his
family from Portland to Dallas that have been home forever
and like and to know, like, but you're going to
a guy that's going to be willing to grow with
you like you're and.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
It's going to be loyal to you.

Speaker 5 (33:44):
I was really happy to see that because I knew
it would be a good situation for him.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
The family, I mean, the kids, they're good people, right,
So it makes it easy for me, you know, And
it's just a matter of letting him take his steps
and you know, trusting him to do things. You know,
I still still talk and everything, and you know, still
get involved, but you know, every day he gets more
and more responsibility and he just keeps on getting better.
And that's all you can ask.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
That's absolutely incredible. That was That was a.

Speaker 5 (34:16):
Little rumor around that you were scared on what the
next TV deal brings in that uh that that's one
of the reasons you sold the team. Is there any
truth to that in this? So what are you thinking
about the new TV deal?

Speaker 1 (34:29):
Good question, right, You can't look at linear television and
not be scared.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yes, right, yes, that's right.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
Look, I'm on Shark Tank. I see her. Our ratings
every week used to be like when the show aired,
we'd have nine ten million viewers. Now there's three four
million viewers, right, And that's the same thing across But
on the flip side the shows that do do well sports, right,
so they need us more. But then one step further,

(34:56):
like Bally's was our local broadcaster and they want bankrupt, right,
and so they got bailed out by Amazon. So if
streamers come in and are as big as I think
they are going to be, it won't be an issue. Right, Yes,
even if I'm eighty percent confident, there's always that twenty
percent chance, right, So it's hard to peg it exactly.

(35:19):
I don't think we're going to have a problem for
the next ten years after that. I have no idea, right,
who knows what the world's going to be like from
a technology and streaming and AI and multimedia. You know,
what I do think is a source of revenue that
is under monetized is social media, right, because we are

(35:41):
the biggest thing. The NBA is huge on social media, right,
you know that you see it. You know, guys in
the NBA are you know, other than maybe you know
soccer overseas, right, the biggest athletes on the planet, and
that carries a lot of value. And so I think,
you know, I, you know, I pushed hard and continue

(36:01):
to push hard that we're under monetizing that. So even
if those deals aren't quite where I expect them to be.
I think the social media side will pick up the
slack at some point, maybe not this year, but five,
ten years, whatever it is. So I think the NBA
will be okay. So you know, from it wasn't so
much that, but it was definitely the real estate side,
like explained to you, and look, you know the whole

(36:21):
twenty five percent of a watermelon. If we're able to
get casino gaming passed resort casino gaming passed in Texas,
could you imagine a Venetian built in downtown Dallas where
the Dallas Mavericks play.

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I'm looking through the.

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Speaker 2 (37:49):
Oh my god.

Speaker 5 (37:50):
By the way, I love Dallas, So that's like music
to my ears.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
I love that city.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
It's a great city.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
Right.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
It's now saw something like between Dallas for worth up
to eight million people and we're like the fifth largest,
you know, DMA. So there's there's nothing but upside down here.
But you need somebody who knows that business to take
advantage of it.

Speaker 2 (38:10):
Absolutely.

Speaker 5 (38:10):
But that's got to be a tough thing to get
past in Texas. No, like with it being a red.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
State, Like yeah, I mean, now you know there's thirty
one states that support gaming and so it's not as
it's wins.

Speaker 5 (38:22):
Okay, that's that's amazing. I know if somebody, anybody can
do a UK but.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Yeah, I don't even know about that. But you know,
but we're not trying to pitch okay, more online gaming, right,
It's not like this is not app based. We're talking
about building a resort so that you know, you two
can come in here and be the house band, right
or Travis Scott can be the house ban and you
know for different so you can bring everybody to the
spot and it's going to generate billions in revenue for

(38:47):
the state. You know, it's not going to generate two
hundred million dollars like gaming does. Online gaming does. It's
real money that states can't ignore. And the other thing
like when I pitch it, right, it's like, what's the
one spot that you want to in your family to
come visit in Texas? What's the one vacation fund Texas?

Speaker 5 (39:04):
Well, I want to go to Dallas, but it's not
really much of.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
A vacation exactly, in Dallas.

Speaker 5 (39:13):
Yes, you're saving your money absolutely.

Speaker 1 (39:16):
Coming to Dallas, Right, that's the whole point. That's why
I think it'll pass.

Speaker 5 (39:20):
I love that, and I think I think it'll be
great in the upside of that for that city, Like
I don't think people know the amount of wealth that's
actually in Dallas, Like for that city, Oh my god,
it'd be through the roof.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
And then you're.

Speaker 5 (39:34):
Basing that around basketball team, like that's next level. Well,
I must be honest. The first part of that interview,
we got about twenty minutes left with Mark, and we're
going to get into this right okay, okay, But the
first part of that interview was for me. I wanted
to ask you all of these questions and just things

(39:55):
like I respect how brilliant you are, how intense you are,
how you go about business.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
And that was for me.

Speaker 5 (40:01):
But let's get into some basketball stuff. Like you in
twenty eleven, you won the championship and you were allowed
about it and I loved it. But and and all
the success that you've had, you know, like five point
seven billion dollars Sell, I can't I can't get over

(40:21):
that three point five recently, insane.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
Out of all the success that you have.

Speaker 5 (40:26):
Where does winning that championship rank amongst your career accomplishments?

Speaker 1 (40:31):
Well, after family, the money comes after the championship. No,
the money comes before the championship, then the championship, right, Yes,
I mean Hilario O'Brien back there, right, all right, but
he's lowly. I'm jealous of you. Right. That's that stuff
is hard and so and it's been so long now, right,
it's just like, you know, until you guys won again,

(40:52):
you know, two years ago, it was like, when's it
going to happen again? And so it's just it's just
hard and so can't happen soon enough. But it's definitely
that was that was a great moment. But you know
this better than I do. Right, it's almost anti climatic,
and it's more a stress release than it is a
celebration because you're building up. You're building up, you're building up,

(41:16):
and you know that's the pinnacle, right, And when you
get there, it's like you just expect the skies, the park,
the scenes, the part and when it happened the first time,
and you're like, nothing really changed, I mean other than
the whole city going nuts and everything, but still you know,
and so, but then that stress starts building again the

(41:37):
next season even more so, and then the next season,
so you know, just for the stress release of it all,
I want more.

Speaker 5 (41:43):
Yes, sir, I know, I get it. And you know
what's crazy when we want our first one and to
your point, being so anti climactic, when we want our
first one, I was like, Wow, this feels amazing. Immediately
after that, the feeling switch to I can't imagine never
filling this feeling again. It almost becomes depressing, right.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
Stress begins right, So I'm like, we're just gonna go party.
I'm putting all this out of my mind. We're gonna
go have a good time. We're going club, whatever, dirt, whatever, jet,
whatever those guys want. Yes, that's what exactly we're gonna do.
I get back, and you know, that's what makes this
business different than every other because the city's on fire, right,
You're going to have a parade, people are screaming in
the streets, everybody's pouring out, and you're just dying to

(42:28):
get back there to be part of it. I took
that trophy everywhere. I never had to buy a drink
for another year, even outside of Dallas, because we beat
the Heatles, right, and so it was just but then,
like you said, and honestly, that was when we had
a lockout and I never thought we were going to

(42:48):
go back and play it all. I really thought we
were going to miss the whole year, and so it
made it even crazier.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
No, that's that's that's amazing.

Speaker 5 (42:58):
Well, and then y'all on and y'all have like the
largest bill and live in one of the largest guys
at that time and lived nightclub history. And that's when lived,
Like live today is great, it's lived, but live then
live was a totally different story. That's when live was lived.
How was that night a party? Because that, by the way,

(43:20):
we went to Vegas after our championship and I will
never forget that true.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
How was that night?

Speaker 1 (43:25):
Oh it's insane, right, I mean, you know, they have
the stage where the DJ is and we're up there
stinging and I've got this one hundred and forty thousand
dollars bottle of champagne and we're trying to lift it
and drink it and you know, just stupid shit that
if there weren't videos and pictures, I'd never remember, right.

Speaker 5 (43:40):
Yes, that kind of night that's amazing. Oh man, that's incredible.
I would have loved I would have paid to be
there for that celebration. Oh man, Miami, that's the time.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
Yeah, it was fun.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
That's the time.

Speaker 5 (43:59):
So very very important moment in NBA history, and it's
important now on an individual level.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
This guy is so incredible.

Speaker 5 (44:10):
It will soon be important on a team level as well,
with the trajectory of his career.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
Drafting Luka Doncic.

Speaker 5 (44:17):
And it took a trade for y'all for y'all to
do that. Just talk talk to me about how that
came about, How how y'all knew Luca was the guy
because I had a friend. Well, I have a friend
that played overseas, played year old league player, and when
Luca was like seventeen years old, sixteen, He's like, Yo,
it's this sixteen, seventeen year old over here on Real Madrid.

(44:39):
I'm telling y'all he going to be the next one.
And a couple of me and my boys was like, yo,
you don't think.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
He too slow.

Speaker 5 (44:45):
You don't think and he's like, no, I'm telling you,
he going to get to whatever spot he wanted to
get to. He's smart, he shoot like talk to me,
talk to me about drafting Luca. What was that process.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Like, Like our scouts had it DeAndre eighty number one,
our analytics had Luca number one. And so it was
you know, it wasn't a battle, right because we knew
Eighton was going to go number one. Right then the
question was what happens next? Yes, we're thinking for sure,
you know Luca is going number two because they have

(45:17):
there's a connection there. Everything right, and didn't happen. Right
gets to number three, and first of all, the crazy
part is, I'm not going to use the word, but
we worked hard to have the third worst record in
the NBA. We fell right to number five. The MAVs
have never moved up in the draft, never moved up,

(45:38):
only stayed the same or gone down. So we fall
to five. And so we're hearing that the Hawks won
trade and the general managers are talking, talking, talking, not
getting done. So about thirty minutes to go, it's coming
up to our time. You know, either get it done
and we're not. We're not going to have a chance.
And so I ended up getting on the phone with

(46:00):
the Hawk's owner and we hashed it out ourselves, and
it was like, look, the general managers. They're all over
negotiating owner and the owner, let's just get this done.
And with about fifteen minutes to go before our pick,
we got it done.

Speaker 2 (46:13):
See.

Speaker 5 (46:13):
Now that's a pro move, Mark because Luca and by
the way, Trey Young has had an incredible career, a
great career.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
Uh, But Luca Lucas generational, Like Luca is.

Speaker 5 (46:29):
On any given night the best player in the NBA,
like you know, So Lucas generational to me is just
a little different.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
Trade is great. I think trade is incredible.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
But you just don't know, right. I mean, look, we
make the trade and we go to China to play,
and Sean Marion and I forget who else from the NBA.
You know how they have ambassadors when you go overseas
and everything, and they're sitting next to me and he's
starting to play. I'm like, tell me what you think.
Tell you because you just don't know, right, Yes, no,
until you know, you know, nobody picks somebody at the

(47:01):
top of the draft thinking they suck.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
Yeah, you know that's a fact.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
Whatever it is that you see, you're just praying to
God that that's what comes through. And so we don't know.
And in the preseason, you're starting to see little glimmers,
and then the regular season and he's you know, he's
still getting started and still finding his way, and then
all of a sudden you start seeing these things. You're like,
all right, this is the guy.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
Absolutely.

Speaker 5 (47:26):
So I have a question to ask you because you
said you got on the phone with the Hawks owner.
I'm assuming Tony Wrestler. Okay, So I'm assuming you got
on Tony. And at this time, Tony's what two years
into owning the Hawks. If even two years, it pretty
fairly new. You've now been in this for twenty years? Uh?
Is that a classic moment of saying when you hire

(47:49):
a general manager, let them do their job. And here's
why I asked that, because you who's been in there
for twenty years, your like, you and Joe are probably
as much of decision makers when it comes to basketball
as there are of any owners in the NBA. And
you get on the phone and you hash this out
with Tony. But the difference between Luca and Trey has

(48:13):
been a fireable offense for other people and you, But you.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
Know the Hawks go to the conference finals his year, right, Yes,
you just don't know. And they're looking brilliant. We don't
make the playoffs, right, and no, we make the playoffs, Yeah,
we make the player. No, we didn't make the playoffs
that first year, right, Yeah, And they're looking like heroes right, yes,
the conference finals and we haven't made the playoffs. And

(48:39):
so you just don't know, and it just takes time.
And like we were talking earlier, you can have a
generational player. You can have Michael Jordan, you can have Lebron.
Lebron didn't make the playoffs this first year. You know,
Michael didn't make the playoffs the first couple of years,
and so it takes a team for sure.

Speaker 5 (48:57):
Vladi Dvac lost his job over that because he drafted
Arvin Bagley.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
If I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 5 (49:02):
Travis Slink has been out in Atlanta. But that doesn't
seem like your your way to go, like you had
Donnie for years like that. You don't you ironically, Pittsburgh Steelers,
you don't seem to flip guys much. What's your like,
what's your take on building front offices and coaches and
retaining them because they get flipped over like nobody tomorrow

(49:25):
around this league.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
But you don't quite take that approach.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
Yeah, I mean, until you've got something better to go to,
why would you change? Right, Hiring a coach in particular
is the hardest job in professional sports because walking the door.
And they're smart, right, that's why they're got They've got
the opportunity to be a head coach in the NBA.
So they can tell you, point by point by point
what's already wrong with your team, and they can tell

(49:48):
you what they think they want to do to get
it there and what you need to do. And it's
hard to say no too, So you've got to look
at the non obvious factors, like when we got and
it depends on your team too. So like when we
went from Avery Johnson to Rick, we had the team
that we had, but we needed just a different kind
of voice, right, And then when Rick left, it was like, Okay,

(50:10):
let's get a different kind of voice with Jay Kidd,
you know, because Nico was coming in at the same
time too, And so you know, unless there's a reason
to change, or I've got something better, why change?

Speaker 2 (50:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (50:23):
Yeah, absolutely, no, I definitely understand that. And speaking continuing
on the laying of basketball and what you've done with
the Mavericks, Dirk obviously has statue, obviously Hall of Fame,
obviously Championship, MVP, more accolades up until this point. But
do you think that Luka Doncis has a chance to
be the greatest Maverick ever in Like, obviously Dirk is

(50:46):
who Dirk is.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
I'm no disrespect to Dirt. Dirk knows I love him
to death, right, dirty, and I go way way back.
But Dirk will be the first one to tell you
Luca's better.

Speaker 2 (50:54):
Interesting, that's interesting.

Speaker 5 (50:57):
Dirt put Dirt put me in a blender at four
already barely being able to run, so.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
Jump over the line, right, But you can shoot, and
he's smart. But you needed to get him the ball, yes,
And that's part of what's changed. Like you need almost
have to have a six six sixty seven six '
eight guy who can control the ball and get a shot,
you know, or get shots for others, because the game

(51:27):
is so much faster and so much more skilled. Right
Whereas before you knew that there would be somebody good
guarding Dirk and they were double him, but you just
had to get him the ball in one of the
spots and let him go to work. Absolutely, the game's changed.
You can't just do that anymore.

Speaker 5 (51:41):
Yeah, no, I understand that that definitely makes a difference.
You made one of the controversial moves as of late
in the NBA and going going out to get Kyrie
Irving for a variety of reason. Actually was talking about
Kyrie Irving on podcasts a couple of nights to just
run and throw a left hand run and hook like

(52:03):
and like, oh my god.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
You can't even talk about that. Look like a two
k right, It's like.

Speaker 5 (52:10):
Why would you do that? Like what would entice you
to try that like at that moment in the game.

Speaker 6 (52:15):
But he is that skilled, right, He's probably only shot
that ball, you know, that same shot maybe from not
twenty one feet but eight or fifteen feet.

Speaker 2 (52:26):
Yes, he has.

Speaker 5 (52:27):
Kyrie is one of the most, if not the most
skilled guy in the NBA.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
But at the time he had been going through the
things with.

Speaker 5 (52:37):
The Jewish video, the anti Semitic, Semitic video that everyone
was speaking about that it was on his Instagram, and
he had been suspended with the COVID uh not suspended,
but ruled out due to the COVID vaccine and all
of those things. And you took it up on yourself,
you Nico and your staff took it up on yourselves
and say no, we want this guy, Like, what was

(52:59):
the thinking and then also knowing that he's a free
agent and kawalk like, what was the thinking behind the process.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Of going to get Kyrie?

Speaker 1 (53:07):
One? When you watch Kai back then and now after
any game, he's hugging five guys.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
Yes, yes, you know.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
It's not like high five quick hug walk out the court.
He's hugging you like you're related. Yes, you know, and
that that's different. And when you talk to people around
him before that we did the deal, nobody disliked him.
Everybody loved him. When you talk to teammates, you know,
current informers loved them right, and when you ask them

(53:36):
what the issue was, it was like, well, you know, media,
you know, and Kyrie's just a caring guy and sometimes
he lets that heart come through and the media doesn't
appreciate it. I'm like, shit, I can deal with the media.
This is Dallas. I've grown up dealing with the media.
I'll take all those bullets like I've done for other guys,
you know, and then Nico knows them and you know,

(53:58):
help them issue. Nico's like, guy's great. Everybody you know,
I know the kid, he's a good kid. He's got
a great heart. Just you know, bad situation. If COVID
never happened, probably be a completely different situation, right, So
we're like, Okay, let's go for it, and let me
just tell you I love Ti to death. You know,
the more I talk to him, he's just he's got

(54:20):
a heart of gold, right, And he cares about too
many things, right. If he's got a problem, it's like
he's too caring about too many things. He's a dude,
like when you're when you're in college and you and
your guys are talking about alcohol and getting drunk and
you know, girls, he wants to talk about world peace
and the indigenous tribes of Australia, right, and you know

(54:45):
everything else is off limits. Everybody else is doing their thing, right,
I just wants to open up and talk about that.
And when you're on social media and you're talking to
the media about those things, there's no nuance in this world,
any world, right, They're not going to get that. And
like Kain I will talk like after Hama's attack Israel, right,

(55:07):
and we're talking and we're like, I'm like, what do
you think, Kai, And he's like look, terrorist is wrong, right,
but how can you not feel for the you know,
not only the people that got slaughtered in Israel, but
what's going to happen to the Gazans? Right, and what's
going to happen. He's not like taking sides. And he's
certainly against terrorism, and he's like clear, I'm against terrorism,

(55:29):
but he wants to feel how other people feel, you know,
he respects that pain, you know, and it's not just
you know the Middle East, it's Australia, it's Soudan, it's
you know, American Indians in this country, it's Lakota tribe.
Like I'm sending them links to documentaries on the Lakota tribe. Right.
He wants to learn and he wants to care about

(55:50):
those things. And how many people do you know like that?

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Yeah, that's a fact. Not many. So that's a special
person he is.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
I mean, he's somebody that when you get you know,
there's certain people when you hug them, you feel who
they are.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
That's Kyrie Irvy one percent.

Speaker 5 (56:08):
Did you take as a Jewish man though, did you
take like did you get a lot of backlash from
like Jewish friends or Jewish family members?

Speaker 1 (56:16):
Because yeah, yeah, no, but the men, and I talked
to him like, dude, I talked to him. He's not
anti semitic. Yes, people who are more anti Semitic than
he is not. You just got to talk to him.
And you know, but Kyrie did have to adjust, right,
he had to. Like we had a conversations like, look, Kyle,
you can't just say these things on social media or

(56:38):
wherever expect people to understand how you feel about them.
So you have to be a little bit more careful.
And he goes, You're right, I will be.

Speaker 5 (56:46):
And he has been, and he has been. It's absolutely
wonderful to watch. I'm happy for kay We got a
chance to win an Olympic medal together in twenty sixteen
and built a really good relationship.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
And I'm happy to see him doing what.

Speaker 5 (56:59):
He thriving at it and not having to deal with
all of the stuff that he doesn't.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
Like to do. Yeah. I mean, it's just the joy
in his eyes, Like he's bringing his daughter into the
locker room after every game and his kids when they're there.
I mean, it's just he brings joy to what he does.
And he's the first to tell you this is my profession.
I want to be great at my craft. I want
to be the best all time, but I also want

(57:25):
to be a human being because I got to live
a much longer life after I'm done playing. But I
want to have my tribe, right, I want to have
my community. That's important to me. And you know, we
don't talk about it as much now as we did
during the off season, but you know, just being able
to communicate with him about those things, it's special. And
it's like now with Ramadan, right, it's not like okay, no,

(57:47):
it's okay, let's make sure we have food. Ridikuo and
I have the conversation. The minute that sun goes down,
feed the guy playing, I forget where we were playing.
Oh my god, it wasn't anyways, he's looking you could
tell what time it was, right, And the minute he's

(58:09):
got a time out, he ran to the back and
he came out with some food and everything, and I'm like, oh, ship, right,
we got to do that right. I didn't even think
about it originally, and it was like the first day
of Ramana, and so Niko and I talked and Okay,
we're going to get this right for him. And you know,
it's just those little things that when you respect the player,
you know, from Luca to Kai to all the way down.

(58:30):
When you respect him, they know it right and how
and it helps no one.

Speaker 5 (58:35):
It does help, and that's what makes guys want to
come back and stay somewhere for their entire careers, for
the rest of their careers.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
It helps one. A couple more questions.

Speaker 5 (58:48):
But before we get out of here, and speaking of
Kai and Luca, what does this team need currently? You
guys went out and got big Daniel Gaffer, who I
think was still by the way like he been tucked
in Washington, and that's been tough. Daniel Gaffer is a
steal and so Nico special.

Speaker 1 (59:10):
That's Nico one hundred percent of the way right. That
was see, like we got it done. We got it done, right.
I think we just we got to stay healthy like everybody, right,
and just a little bit more time, you know, because
we basically are changing how we play, right, So we've
now we can be vertical forty eight minutes. Yeah, we
couldn't do that before. So and so guys who are

(59:33):
shooting threes before aren't getting quite as many rhythm shots,
which has made it a little bit tougher on them,
right because before like with Timmy and Josh Green and Maxie,
they were getting more threes, but now we're just getting
lobs right, and so our centers are putting up twenty
five and fourteen right. It's just like we brought in Shack.

(59:54):
You know, we've just got to get used to that rhythm.
But and then defensive, like you know, you just got
to get you've got to get put together right, so
everybody knows exactly how we're and when right and so.
But it's coming together right, you see it. And then
you know, like a lot of teams, we just got
to not relax, you know when we've got you know,

(01:00:15):
you win a big game and then you play against
somebody you think you should be easy. There are no
easy games in the NBA anymore. Just too much talent.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
That's a fact.

Speaker 5 (01:00:24):
And I think you're ahead of the curve when you
talk about getting vertical, having bigs that can get vertical
the whole game, because.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
The game, the game is doing a weird thing right now.

Speaker 5 (01:00:34):
As you know, the NBA game changes every four to
six years dramatically, and the game is doing a weird
thing right now where it's getting bigger, but it's not
only is it getting bigger, it's getting more athletic and faster,
and y'all are covering those bases well with a big
dan you got for Derry Lively will be an All
Star in this in this league like, and you guys

(01:00:55):
are covering that. So that's absolutely great to see.

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
Lord, right, rookie, Yes, yes, here we are. But we're
changing our style of play in real time and that
takes time on both ends of the court. But you
know that, you know the opportunity is there.

Speaker 5 (01:01:15):
Yes, and with this obviously me being a dub uh
and coming here. When I came here, the only thing
I would hear, what's your favorite Warriors moment?

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
Do we believe team in O seven? That's all we
were hearing me and stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:01:31):
Me and Stephan Clay used to laugh, like these people
are just excited about the first round victory, Like what
is going on around time?

Speaker 1 (01:01:39):
Except for me, it was horrible. Let me say the
best part about the best part about that series. If
there was one right to put aside losing right, I
would walk out to the court right from the back
in Oakland, and the minute I hit the court, the
whole place would start chanting. Cuban sucksub such Cuban sucks.

(01:02:02):
And I was like, what I like to put up
on the jumbo tron, and then I'd walk out to
see if they did it again.

Speaker 2 (01:02:10):
Shuck.

Speaker 5 (01:02:14):
By the way, I get that at every arena I
walk into outside UH. I get a little bit in
Detroit because there's some Michigan fans, but not really so
outside of Chase. Detroit and Boston fans can't boom me
really anymore. They stopped, they stopped. But other than that,
I get it everywhere I go. Last question, I appreciate you.

(01:02:39):
I appreciate you taking the time you openly spoke about UH,
and you just mentioned it earlier. The guys that you've lost,
and Steve Nash being one of them, how did that
propel you as an owner to help you grow?

Speaker 2 (01:02:53):
Y'all? I think y'all offers Nash somewhere around.

Speaker 5 (01:02:56):
Nine million a year for four years, and he got
sixty three.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Yeah. I still got the pad where I took the
notes where Steve called me to give me that last chance,
right where I wrote down Mike Bibby money. No, lie,
I've got it written down on that sheet of paper.
Mike Bibbie money is what he wanted, which was like
the max out at the time, which sounds so insane
right now, right, But it was more you know that
Steve had only played like twenty eight twenty nine minutes

(01:03:21):
a game that previous year, and we were worried about
the injuries. Yeah, and just that was it in a nutshell,
And so it wasn't any disrespect to his game. And
and honestly, I think that propelled Steve right, the fact
that we let him go and et cetera, et cetera,
and two time MVP, great guy, loved the death. You know,
we're friends again. But yeah, it was a mistake, the

(01:03:44):
biggest mistake I ever made with the MAVs.

Speaker 2 (01:03:48):
I mean, but does Dirk become the Dirk that he
became of Steve? Still? Was Steve become Steve? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
But I'd rather take my chances for those two guys
can agree.

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
I agree, agree.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
I screwed up really really, really bad. In hindsight, No,
and we all do.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
Mark. I can't thank you enough. This is this is
an honor for me.

Speaker 5 (01:04:08):
I think back to that day and by the way,
one thing, one thing I can't admit, you were right.
I was dumb and shit and didn't know business how
I thought I knew business at that time.

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
State were killing on me right like it was something else.
I was just like, Oh, it's just.

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
Can but listen you.

Speaker 5 (01:04:28):
I look back at some of the statements I would
make back then about business and I'd be like, dude,
you had no clue what you were talking about, and
you thought you did. It's even like not to throw straight,
but it is what it is to see Caleb Williams
come out like, whatever team drafts me, I want ownership
of the team.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
When I saw.

Speaker 5 (01:04:47):
Him say that, I was like, that's how I used
to look when I would make some of these statements
like it just doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
I still say a lot of stupid ship. But you
know what, if you're staying stupid shit, you're trying new ship,
right this is that's not a bad thing. So I
can live with my mistakes, man. But yeah, I appreciate
it that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
That to me was a big moment.

Speaker 5 (01:05:09):
And when when you said that, I didn't necessarily take
it like bad. I was just like, let me look
deeper into that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:17):
And as I have, what were you right? And I
was far.

Speaker 1 (01:05:21):
Off, Oh I wish you were in the league when
Phil Jackson and I would go at it right because
then it was pre social media, and he would give
me shit in the newspaper or whatever, and then I
would go right back at him right. I called him
my bucket boy. I called him you know, Shaq and
Kobe and the band of Merry Minimums. So I would
go hard at it because it was so much fun

(01:05:43):
because you would just talk to the beat reporter. The
beat reporter would like take it and run with it,
and there was no you know, it'd be on the
internet on a web page somewhere, but there was no
social media to put it out immediately. So it was
a different day. But it was fun. I mean, so
if you ever talked to Shaq, ask him about Shaq Albert, right, Albert?
So remember Fat Albert? You know, Yes, I made a video.

(01:06:07):
I made a cartoon where we put Shaq's head on
Fat Albert and we was like, hey, hey, hey, Shaq Albert,
and we showed it right before he was showed shoot
free throws, and Shaq would just crack up, you know,
And so I can't. You can't get away with that

(01:06:29):
stuff anymore. But I every button that I could.

Speaker 2 (01:06:32):
Oh man, that is amazing.

Speaker 5 (01:06:34):
And that that my friend is me in a nutshell.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
I push every button that I can.

Speaker 5 (01:06:40):
I can't thank you enough. Mark, This is an honor,
absolute pleasure. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with myself,
with our fan base. Uh first owner that we've had
on the show. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate it,
and all of my dumb shit that I said. I
appreciate you never taking the personal never.

Speaker 1 (01:06:59):
Man, it's the same ways my skin is really really thick, right,
So I don't I don't care.

Speaker 2 (01:07:04):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:05):
I love it a lot of fun. It was a
great interview.

Speaker 5 (01:07:08):
Thank you so much. I appreciate you Mark. Yes, sir
go does. We'll see y'all soon next week.