It is nice to have the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs. One of the best young players in the league plays in a good crowd. Mark Cuban has been the constant guiding force for the Mavericks since the turn of the millennium.
He isn't cut from the Jerry and Mickey Arison cloth of team owners. Cuban ushered in a new group that was more visible and not afraid to show their enthusiasm for their team when talking about them.
Cuban has been well-known in recent years for his Shark Tank show but his Mavericks have been a perennial NBA contender. The team had expectations after losing to the Clippers in the first round. They won more than 50 games for the first time since 2015, and are in the Western Conference Finals after not making the playoffs in six years.
The Mavericks players and coaches are in top form, as is Cuban. He can go straight to the people with his displeasure, because his team has been fined. The team was fined for its bench decorum for the third time. He sent out a video of Draymond Green throwing a temper tantrum and joked about it.
Cuban's me- against-the-league attitude is something I enjoy. He was more entertaining yelling at referees and taking digs at David Stern than watching his team play basketball. I'm not going to say that this particular billionaire was taking the elites to task. It was fun to watch him annoy people.
Mavericks players on the sideline are against the rules. This is not football or baseball and players are allowed to be humans. Basketball players are very close to the action. Standing during play can create a distraction for opposing players, or they could distract them. USA Today's Jeff Zilgitt said that that was what really annoyed the NBA.
Stephen Curry did not fail at his best imitation of Pete Maravich when he committed a turnover in Game 2. Theo Pinson of the Mavericks was not only standing, but wearing a white and blue sweater, when he received the pass. The Warriors wore white uniforms in that game.
I would not object to the NBA fining the Mavericks $1 million and banning Pinson from the sidelines for the rest of the series, even though they got fined $100,000 last time. The way that alternate jersey No. 7 with colors not even in the team logo should be discouraged should result in maximum punishment for disturbing my viewing experience. There are no more color rush playoff games.
In this second round, the teams have been better at sticking to their home whites. I support Cuban's reactions on and off the court when he believes that his team has been unfairly treated, and I am happy to see them in the playoffs again. I'm going to lose this series if I see a Game 6 with the Warriors in black and the Mavericks in green.
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