Yes he made all his money selling Broadcast.com, a company which had a few million in revenue and no profit and would frankly go nowhere, to Yahoo for $5.9 billion in 1999. Yes, he has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1,665,000 for 13 incidents. Hell, he bought a plane on the web for $40 million just to make the Guinness Book of Records (largest e-commerce purchase).
But I for one am happy for Mark Cuban after his Mavs stuck it to the Miami Heat. And not because of the Wade/James stupidity, making fun of Dirk’s fever. No, it’s because I actually like Mark Cuban. In a world with so many fakers, liars, and pretenders, Cuban is what he is. If his sin is being too passionate, too arrogant, too aggressive, I can live with that.
It seems to me that he knows damn well how lucky he is to be one of the wealthiest guys on the planet, to own a basketball team, to pretty much do whatever the hell he wants. Many in his position act like they got there because they’re smarter than the rest of us. In fact, most of the venture-capitalist guys I know hate Cuban for just that reason. They do think they’re smarter than the rest of us, so when Cuban pulls the covers back on the way wealth is accumulated in this country, it really pisses them off.
Cuban is a guys’ guy and you just get the sense that he hasn’t changed much. He’s the same loudmouth he always was, only now with billions to fuel his habit. And I’m alright with that. As we have been saying from the start here at the Good Men Project, there is no one definition of goodness. It’s a self-defined concept. But one thing that does matter is honesty—being yourself in all parts of your life and not hiding behind a job or a tweet stream. I don’t think anyone can doubt who Mark Cuban is and what he believes in. And for that reason I’m happy for him.
For similar reasons, I have this mildy sick fondness for Bobby Knight, but that’s a much longer story, which will only get me into trouble. I’ll have to leave that for another day.
Photo Kenny Burns Twitter Feed
so, tom, i’m incredibly happy for the Mavs—Dirk, Kidd and Terry in particular. Marion, too. he’s an unorthodox baller and i dig his unique style and people forget what a FREAK he was w/ the Suns. but M Cuban? i can’t stand the guy. your points are all valid and i don’t think he’s a bad dude, per se, but i do think he’s a loudmouth jerk and the quintessence of what anti-americans dislike in our country. arrogant bullshit artists who think they’re pile of money can buy them anything they want. so, it bought him a ring, and i’m… Read more »
And after CBS fired Dan Rather under questionable circumstances, Cuban gave Rather his own show with complete editorial freedom. I’d say the Cubes is a good man indeed. Hell yes.
Hiring Dan Rather doesn’t seem like a sin against society in my view frankly, given the shit that is going down all around us.