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1:39

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond

1:42

Greenshaw.

1:42

I told you all last week that

1:45

we had a guest coming on that I was really

1:47

excited about an NBA

1:49

owner coming on. And

1:53

you know, this for me is a dream

1:55

come true because it takes me back to

1:57

a story that we'll get into a little later.

2:00

But a little banter we have back and forth,

2:02

and if you know anything about me, I'm

2:05

all for a good banter. I don't take any banter

2:07

personal. I'll dis some banter out.

2:09

You can dis some banter back. I absolutely

2:12

love it. And this guy

2:15

in particular, he's known for being

2:17

involved, right in your face, super

2:19

energetic, super excited, talking

2:22

to the ruffs, just like I talked to the RUSS

2:24

bantering back and forth. He O Bencher with a

2:26

player. I absolutely love

2:28

it. And more importantly

2:30

than all of that, he's an NBA champion.

2:33

Can I want to welcome none other than

2:35

the legendary Mark Cuban.

2:37

Welcome to the Draymond Green Show, my friend.

2:39

Thanks for having me on Dremid. I really appreciate it,

2:41

looking forward to it.

2:42

Absolutely No, it's and

2:45

the story that I'm getting that back

2:47

in I don't know, maybe about six seven

2:50

years ago. Now I said something

2:52

publicly and you said back,

2:54

if he wants to understand business, I'll get him

2:56

in a Kelly Business School right now. For

3:03

those of you out there that don't know what Kelly

3:05

Business School is, one of the top business schools

3:07

in the world. It is at IU

3:10

Indiana University and Mark. By the

3:12

way, I have a younger sister. She's now

3:14

twenty three years old. She graduated

3:16

right up at the top of her class at Kelly Business

3:18

School two years ago.

3:19

She was the business speaker.

3:21

Yeah, she's the smart

3:23

one in the family.

3:24

Right, absolutely, far smarter

3:26

than me. That's for sure.

3:29

Make a really smart a good thing.

3:31

Absolutely, you know.

3:32

But number one I have

3:34

to ask I know that you are from Pittsburgh.

3:36

Please tell me you're Pittsburgh Still a fan?

3:38

Oh, hell, yes I am. I mean you

3:41

might have a Duke ca Dukes fan. Man, Yes,

3:45

took it to them, like go Dukes

3:47

man, it's been fifty five years when I

3:49

like, when I was growing up, I went

3:51

to their basketball camp, the du Cane basketball

3:54

camp. It was at Robert Morris where five

3:56

Star was right so it was the camp right

3:58

before five Stars started. That was a big

4:00

deal. So I've been a Duke Cane Dukes fan my entire

4:02

life.

4:03

That is amazing.

4:04

See this guy's intends he's watching college

4:06

basketball. I love it.

4:09

I absolutely love it. No, but you

4:11

know, I just want to get into number one, like

4:14

early life before you

4:16

know all the great.

4:17

Business moves that you've made.

4:19

Just talk to me about skipping your senior

4:22

year and actually enrolling

4:24

in college because for me, like we're starting

4:26

to see more kids do that now actually in basketball.

4:29

So just skin, can you take me back

4:31

there and like walk me through the thinking behind that.

4:33

Sure, I went to Mount Levenan and High

4:35

School in Pittsburgh,

4:38

and I always wanted to get into business, and

4:41

my junior year they would not let me take

4:43

a senior level economics class,

4:45

and so I was like, okay,

4:48

whatever, I want to see

4:50

if I can take college classes. So I

4:52

signed up and registered at the University of Pittsburgh

4:55

my junior year to take night classes and

4:57

I took I forget psychology and so

5:00

geology or something, you know, no big

5:02

deal, and I did good at them. Right, So I'm

5:04

like, okay, I got this. If I can you

5:06

know, do okay in classes at

5:08

night, what do I need to go back to, you know,

5:10

for my senior year in high school where they won't let me take

5:12

business classes. So I just picked

5:15

up and skipped my senior year and went to the University

5:17

of Pittsburgh and started taking classes

5:19

there, joined the fraternity. So I'm

5:21

literally supposed to be a high school senior, right,

5:24

and I'm joining the fraternity and going back

5:26

to my high school to take some girl to prom. Right.

5:30

All of a sudden, I went from being this dweevy guy

5:32

to like that guy. And so it

5:34

was fun. Man. I just wanted to challenge myself

5:37

and just see if I can do it, and I could,

5:39

and that just gave me confidence going forward.

5:42

That's so interesting because when you

5:44

look back, like when you look back

5:46

at successful people like

5:48

you can always go to something and be like,

5:51

look at that thing right there, like to have

5:53

that thing as a sixteen seven

5:55

year old and say, no, I'm actually want to move

5:57

on from this to how the courage to go to

5:59

your parents to say I'm skipping my senior

6:02

high school.

6:02

You don't understand I didn't go to my you

6:09

know, because I paid for it. When I took those

6:11

classes at night, I mean, they were excited. I told

6:13

him that, right because I wanted to show them I was doing it.

6:15

And then they were I'm like, okay,

6:17

I'm taking those classes. I'm just going to you

6:20

know, go to college. And didn't really get

6:22

into the part that I had to drop out of high school in order

6:24

to be able to do it. So I literally was a

6:26

high school dropout. And it was only after

6:29

I like my sophomore year in Indiana, I

6:31

forget exactly that I called back up to the

6:33

high school and asked him if I could take my college

6:35

credits and use it to be able to graduate

6:38

high school.

6:39

Wow, that's incredible, that's that is

6:41

absolutely amazing. So

6:43

you go and you graduate from

6:45

Indiana Kelly Business

6:47

School, and how soon is it

6:49

that you move into creating broadcast dot

6:51

com.

6:52

Oh no, it was wow. Right. So I

6:55

graduate and I go down to Dallas

6:58

and I get a job at night as a bartender,

7:01

and then I get a job working selling

7:03

software, and long

7:05

story short, I get fired from that job, realize

7:07

I'm a shitty employee. Go start a company

7:09

called micro Solutions that gets

7:11

me really hardcore into technology. So I

7:14

learned how to program program for like

7:16

seven years and we were one of the first

7:18

companies in the country to like connect

7:20

PCs together. Back then, it was a big deal.

7:23

Sell that by lifetime path on American

7:25

airlines, travel around the country,

7:27

around the world, party like a rock star. Just

7:29

have you know, I'm thirty years old. Just have the best

7:31

time ever.

7:32

Man.

7:32

I was just living the life. And then one of my

7:34

buddies from IU and I get together.

7:37

This was ninety early ninety

7:39

five, and he was like, look, there's

7:41

this you know internet thing. You're the technology

7:44

guy. Can we do something to be able to

7:46

listen to IU basketball down here in Dallas?

7:48

Because literally, to listen to the game, we

7:50

would have somebody up in Bloomington put

7:53

a radio next to a speakerphone and

7:55

then call a long distance down to us,

7:58

and we would listen on a speakerphone down to Dallas,

8:00

like a six pack, twelve pack or whatever. And

8:02

yet get up while we're listening to the game, you

8:04

know, it wasn't on TV nothing, And so

8:07

I'm like, let me figure this out. And so

8:09

we started a company called audio Net and that

8:11

was the first streaming company. And then

8:14

when we started to get into video, we

8:17

changed the name to broadcast dot Com, took

8:19

it public in nineteen ninety eight, it was the biggest

8:21

IPO in the history of the stock market at the

8:23

time, and then sold it. But

8:26

yeah, so that was the start of the streaming industry. And

8:28

that's how I really, you know, that's why you know

8:30

my name. That's why that's how I was able to buy

8:32

the mass That's amazing.

8:33

Five point seven billion dollars. To

8:36

sell something for five point seven billion dollars

8:38

today is crazy. Five point seven billion

8:40

dollars in nineteen ninety nine, right,

8:44

I was nine years old, by the way, just to make you

8:46

feel old.

8:48

Trust the ownership makes me feel load.

8:51

My question though, you just said something very

8:53

interesting to me.

8:55

You said you bought an American Airlines

8:58

lifetime tames just out

9:00

of curiosity. Would you still happen to have

9:02

access to that pass if you wanted?

9:05

No, because I gave it to a friend.

9:07

Okay, Okay, you.

9:09

Traveled a lot for me because you worked for me, so

9:11

I gave it to him because I bought a plane,

9:13

you know, and so I hadn't need it.

9:15

Yeah, I was about to ask you, can you transfer

9:17

it over to me if you still you're fast

9:23

forward twenty

9:25

eleven. You become a shark on a

9:28

shark investor on Shark Tank. Talk

9:31

to me about that, because that feels

9:34

to me like something you get into. Obviously

9:36

you are who you are in the business world, in the tech

9:38

world. I've actually seen you out here some

9:40

of the tech things before. But

9:43

talk to me about actually like going public with

9:45

that? Was that more of the competition in it?

9:47

Kind of to drive you to do that?

9:50

It was you know, network television,

9:52

right, it was a chance to be on something. You know, television

9:54

is a lot different back then, regular TV was a lot

9:56

different, right, you know, to be on something

9:59

you know in ten million, fifteen million people could

10:01

watch you was cool and but

10:03

it was you know, because they asked me to come on as a guest

10:06

first, so they kicked the dude off,

10:08

and then they had Jeff Foxworthy come on to

10:10

do three episodes, and then they asked me to come

10:12

on and do three episodes. And I'm like, look,

10:15

I don't know if this business the show is going to last.

10:17

It's about business. Who knows, right, probably

10:19

not gonna last, but I'm gonna come on. I'm just gonna

10:21

raise health. Right. So I got on there

10:23

and I'm buying everything. You're right, I'll

10:25

give you a deal. I'll give you a deal. I'll give

10:28

you a deal. And then it was just like

10:30

they were like, Okay, you get it. I

10:32

loved it. It really sent the message to kids

10:35

more than anybody, that the American dream is alive

10:37

and well if you bust your ass right,

10:39

and people coming from you

10:42

know up you know, Michigan, Idaho,

10:44

Pennsylvania, Texas standing on that

10:46

carpet, pitching us and going from

10:49

nothing to something. I mean, that gets people

10:51

excited. It teaches them about business, and to

10:53

be part of that that felt good. And

10:55

so you know, I did

10:57

it on a whim because I didn't know what to expect.

10:59

But I stayed with it for fifteen years now

11:02

because now kids are coming up to me

11:04

Hey, you know, I've got this idea. I'm learning about

11:07

business with Shark Tank. Parents come up to me,

11:09

my kids. You know, it's a show we all watch together.

11:12

It's great, right, So that's why I've done it so

11:15

long, and I just I just think it's an important message.

11:17

That's incredible because it's it's a great

11:20

show.

11:20

You know, I've watched it for years

11:22

and it's absolutely incredible. How much

11:24

success do you see coming

11:27

out of like companies that you find

11:29

through Shark Tank.

11:30

You know, it's like anything else, Like you invest all the

11:32

time, Like we had Bogy right here,

11:34

would tell me about your poker games and

11:36

all the guys and all the investments and shit, you

11:39

know, Iggy the same way, right, guys are like own

11:41

little investment club, and so

11:43

we would talk about it, and it's about the same way. Right.

11:45

You got some big hits and then you got

11:48

you know that what the fuck was I thinking? You know, joints?

11:50

Right, And so I've had

11:52

like Dude Wipes has gotten

11:54

really big. You know, they could do two hundred million

11:57

dollars in business this year, and I

11:59

forget like two hundred and fifty grand for twenty

12:01

percent of the company or fifteen percent of the Yeah,

12:04

you know, Beatbox Beverages has

12:06

just blown up. They'll do two hundred million dollars

12:09

in business this year. They just

12:11

did a round at two

12:13

hundred million, and they're doing you know, fifteen

12:15

seventeen million in eb But I was able to take

12:17

some money off the table. There mush

12:21

packaged oatmeal that you see. They're

12:23

killing it. They'll do one hundred plus million dollars

12:25

in sales this year, and then there's ones you've

12:27

never heard of, right, and then I've had the exit

12:30

you know, where I've made you know, ten million or twenty

12:32

million. So honestly, I was right

12:34

around break even losing up until about

12:36

two years ago. And then these last three years,

12:39

those three companies have just blown up. And so

12:42

you know Callers and compan Co is another company.

12:44

It's just I've had some really good ones that I've taken off the

12:46

last couple of years.

12:48

That's amazing, that's incredible.

12:49

And to see that type of deal flow as

12:52

you get to see it, yeah,

12:54

that's.

12:55

About killing it either, you know, because I've

12:57

done deals where it's somebody that I know I

13:00

can make any money. Probably gonna lose my money,

13:02

but you know it sends a message

13:05

right that Hey, if I look like this person

13:07

and they got to deal with Mark, anything's possible.

13:09

And to me, that's.

13:10

Important, absolutely, And that's

13:12

going to bring us back to a topic later because

13:14

I do want to talk with how you work, about

13:17

how you work with your employees, but we'll get there.

13:19

So I think it's absolutely amazing.

13:20

I'm gonna just go ahead and throw that out there, with what you've

13:23

done with your employees, with the

13:25

selle of the Mavericks. I saw what you're doing even

13:27

after that, you know, not

13:29

washing your hands with it because you're still very involved,

13:32

but to give

13:35

back to people who's helped build these businesses.

13:37

I talk about that all the time. So we'll get into that.

13:39

But so in

13:41

two thousand, after selling Broadcast

13:44

dot Com in ninety nine, you then go on and

13:47

you buy the Dallas Mavericks. When

13:50

you bought the Dallas Mavericks in two thousand,

13:53

did you think like you look

13:55

up twenty twenty four

13:58

years later and that you'd be selling that thing

14:00

for three and a half billion dollars or war wasn't

14:02

more fun for you?

14:04

No, it was. It was all by fun. It wasn't like I'm

14:06

gonna buy this thing. Look, I'm a lucky

14:08

motherfucker in the world, right, you know, to

14:11

come where I come from and then all of a

14:13

sudden to have a bee, multiple bees

14:15

next year. Name. I never imagined that,

14:17

right, And so you know, my dad did upholsterry

14:20

in cars, and his thing was always about you

14:22

only have so much time on this earth, and you better

14:24

enjoy it, right, And that's what I

14:26

tried to do. You know. My motivation

14:28

always, Yeah, I wanted to get paid, but

14:30

I wanted to get paid so I can bring control

14:33

my own time, right, And so I got

14:35

an eye watch. I never the day I sold

14:37

micro Solutions, I took off

14:39

my watch and said, I'm never going to wear a watch

14:41

again because I never want to be on anybody else's

14:44

time. I wanted everyone else to have to work

14:46

to my time, right, and so that

14:49

that to me, Like when I bought the MAVs, that was

14:51

the thing, right, I was forty forty

14:54

one years old. I would play pick up

14:56

three, four or five times a week. So the you

14:58

know the idea of going and getting

15:01

up shots with Nash and Dirt and

15:03

Finley's, you know, and getting into little

15:06

runs every time and not completely embarrassing

15:08

myself back then, right, I

15:10

mean that was like a dream, so, you

15:13

know, and like negotiating

15:15

that deal, I didn't even negotiate. I was just

15:17

like, yes, whatever, right,

15:19

and it was done. I walked in,

15:22

changed some things up and just you know, it

15:25

was a riot. But I never thought, honestly,

15:27

I never thought I would sell it at all. But

15:29

you know, the world changes.

15:31

Yeah, no, I mean, it's been incredible to watch

15:33

what you were able to do with that franchise. Like

15:36

I remember growing up as

15:38

a young kid and like the Dallas Mavericks being

15:40

the laughing stock of the NBA.

15:41

Very similar to how the Warriors were.

15:44

And we like being the laughing stock and to

15:46

watch that and you

15:49

draft dirt and well you didn't

15:52

drive dirt, but you kept dirt,

15:54

and you know, but to have Dirk and the

15:56

guys that y'all had coming through there, and to watch you

15:58

build up the Alice Maverson

16:00

to what they've become is absolutely

16:03

amazing.

16:04

How made it easy though, obviously?

16:06

Yeah, well, I mean,

16:09

but here's the thing, though, you take over

16:11

the team in ninety nine, y'all don't

16:13

win the championship until twenty eleven.

16:15

To stick with Dirk for twelve years.

16:17

That says a lot about you, though.

16:20

Yeah, yeah, I mean, look, he was my guy no matter

16:22

what, thicker than right, and you

16:24

know some this game is hard,

16:26

right and it takes a lot of luck, right,

16:29

you know, you you know, and you know the story

16:31

like Monte or Steph right here, you're going to take

16:34

you know, for boggy, and so you

16:37

know you try not to. You know, I let Nashville.

16:39

I mean I might have had as many rings as you if

16:41

I don't, you know, if I make a different decision

16:43

there, and so you know, sticking with

16:45

Dirk wasn't hard, but trying

16:47

to figure it all out, it's always hard.

16:50

And the game changes every single

16:52

year. You know, right

16:54

now the teams are so much more talented.

16:57

You know, you could ride one horse, two horses

16:59

back then, right, yes, and two

17:01

guys on the court that couldn't shoot, one

17:03

defender, one rebounder, just a

17:06

different game and one guy could get

17:08

you fifty wins in the season. You know, it's

17:10

not like that anymore. But all the way

17:12

through you have to adapt and try to figure it

17:14

out. But you know, Dirk was just kind

17:16

of a cornerstone that that just made.

17:18

It easy, absolutely I got

17:21

a lot of respect for Dirk, and we'll get more

17:23

into that. But I

17:25

know you you watch everything, and you not

17:28

only do you watch everything, you know way

17:30

more than any of us knows, but and

17:33

watching what Steve Balmer is doing

17:35

with the new Arena and how he's trying to cater

17:37

to fans. What is one

17:40

of the changes that you would make to

17:42

the to the in game basketball

17:45

experience for fans like you being

17:47

a huge fan yourself but being

17:50

in it, what's the one change or one change

17:52

that you'd make to better the experience

17:54

for fans in the new Arena?

17:57

Well, I mean, Steve, you know it's great, like Steve talks

17:59

about the bath rooms, right, because you want to

18:01

get people back into their seats because if they're

18:03

not in their seats, they can't be cheering, if

18:05

they're not making noise, because that

18:08

six man is the real thing, right,

18:10

So you know that energy. You know, people

18:13

don't like. When I got to the NBA, I

18:15

used to give them shit all the time because the top

18:17

spots, David Adam and down, they

18:19

were all lawyers. So I used to say, NBA nothing

18:21

but attorneys, right, and you know,

18:24

and I would give them shit I'm like, dude, you don't even

18:26

know what business we're in. You think we're in

18:28

the basketball business. You want to hear sneakers

18:30

squeaking because that's what they did in nineteen fifty

18:32

six. I'm like, when

18:34

you go to a game, you feel that energy that

18:37

is unlike anything else you can get.

18:39

You can't get that watch in front of a television,

18:41

right, you can't get that when you feel

18:43

that energy, and you feel it when you walk on the court,

18:45

right, even like the worst

18:48

matchups, right, there is an energy

18:50

there and the fans feel it. And you

18:52

know when it's bad matchups, there's usually more kids

18:55

in the spand so that's loud, right, And

18:57

so you know, I when I got

18:59

there, it was all about how do you keep people

19:02

people's heads up. And that was before it

19:04

was hardcore cell phones, right and wireless

19:06

and everything. And so now like

19:09

you want to do as many things as you can

19:11

so that people's energy stays up.

19:13

You want to always be entertaining. And parents

19:16

are bringing their kids, and so you've got

19:18

to make sure that that kid's attention span doesn't

19:20

wander because if the parent has to pay

19:22

attention to the kid because the kid is

19:24

on this phone or whatever. You're not going to

19:26

have that energy because you want that kid screaming.

19:29

Right. So it's like

19:31

I learned an early lesson that. I was

19:33

like, what the like? And you see it too

19:37

in two thousand or in twenty twenty four, you

19:39

shoot T shirts into the stands.

19:41

They're

19:45

other than.

19:45

A game winning bucket, right, Those people

19:48

are going nuts for the T shirts, right, and

19:50

so like, okay, let's get people's

19:52

heads to stay up and pay attention.

19:54

So you'll see us do videos a lot. And so

19:56

the Jumbo trins have gotten you know, an

19:59

amazing now because people have

20:01

to look up, you have to keep that attention. You'll

20:03

see the courts, so you know, they've been

20:05

testing see through courts that actually show

20:08

videos right in our LCDs.

20:10

You know, you saw it at the All Star, right, but it was kind of

20:12

weird because we're kind of smushy, right, and it was a little

20:15

bit different. So they got to get that better. But

20:17

for me, it's like anything that

20:19

keeps your head up and the energy of right,

20:22

It's like Bamber's trying to do

20:24

that one section where you have to have like

20:27

we when first started and we stopped

20:29

this a few years ago, like if you came painted

20:32

up as a MAVs fan, we had a whole section

20:34

that was free, right, Yeah,

20:36

we had three hundred people competing for one hundred

20:38

seats, right, and everybody would be all painted

20:41

up. And so you know, it's all

20:43

about energy because that's where the

20:45

fans give you an advantage. And you

20:47

know it gets harder because things

20:49

get more expensive, and so you

20:51

know, it's like you know, the front row, you know,

20:54

whether it's Chase, whether it's Dallas,

20:56

whether it's La wherever, even Milwaukee. Right,

20:59

those are the people that pay to get you know, to get

21:01

closed and yell, and everything's hard.

21:03

They're not putting on the T shirts on during the playoffs,

21:05

right, So just trying

21:07

to come up with ways to keep that energy up.

21:10

That that's the mission in any arena.

21:12

No, absolutely, I definitely understand

21:15

that.

21:15

And you know we feel that energy

21:18

and you feel when it's not there, like you can feel when

21:20

energy leaves the arena. And

21:22

it's sometimes tough because

21:26

we start looking to the crowd for a little energy.

21:28

They're almost looking to us for a little energy.

21:30

And when you have those different type of activations

21:33

and things with the Jumbo try, it can

21:35

sometimes help organically spark them.

21:37

That helps organically spark us.

21:39

Like we do these original videos where we make

21:42

the guys on our team the stars, right,

21:44

and the guys are up and they you can feel

21:46

it, right, and you can feel when you do something where

21:49

there's the old standbys that get you know, get

21:51

loud or you know, the big like we'll

21:53

do a Hoosiers video where they're all clapping and

21:55

all that, right, anything

21:58

it takes to get get the crowd going, because

22:00

that can be the difference between and

22:02

losing, right, and not just on the court,

22:05

but them coming back and having a good experience,

22:07

you know, because if the game,

22:10

even if the game sucked, right, and no

22:12

matter what forty one regular season games,

22:14

there's gonna be some stinkers both ways. Right.

22:17

That's as long as

22:19

you can find ways to keep kids involved,

22:22

they'll keep that energy up and they'll keep

22:24

them because if you're a parent, like how old are

22:26

your kids now?

22:27

My kids are nine, seven, three and

22:30

four months.

22:31

Coret right, thank you, So that

22:33

nine to seven year old, right when you go to a

22:35

game with them and you're no matter what

22:37

the sport, and you're looking in their face and

22:40

you're looking in their eyes and you're seeing

22:42

that smile. They got the cotton candy

22:44

and they're doing their thing. Right. That's

22:46

all you care about as a parent. That

22:49

is the experience you remember the first time your

22:51

aunt, your uncle, your dad, your mom, whoever it is,

22:53

your buddies took you to a game or you went together,

22:56

and your parents they remember it forever,

22:59

right, You'll remember that feeling forever.

23:02

And that's what we get to do at the NBA.

23:05

And that's what I kind of try

23:07

to emphasize for our people,

23:09

right because that's what people remember and

23:11

that gets us w's too because when those kids

23:14

are screaming with that cotton candy, it's

23:16

a win win.

23:17

Absolutely no.

23:18

I and my wife

23:20

actually brought it to my attention, uh

23:23

and kind of made me do it.

23:25

But it was a good thing in

23:27

our arena, you know, where the comp seats would get

23:29

there, they'd be a little higher up. And

23:31

once my kids started getting a little older, she's

23:34

like, hey, they want to see you,

23:36

like, they want to be able to make contact eye

23:38

contact with you. They want to be able to almost talk

23:40

to you. And so I bought some seat. Can't

23:43

of force, I can't afford of course, I seat

23:45

that Chase in it there a little too expensive, but

23:49

we got some seats pretty like pretty close to

23:51

the car, and it

23:54

changes, it actually changes the

23:56

entire game experience for me who's playing

23:59

like me, ask you.

24:00

A question, absolutely, because

24:04

you see your kids there.

24:06

Do I hold myself back?

24:08

Yeah? Absolutely, because,

24:10

like you know, and like, for instance, the instances

24:12

this year, I was very thankful the

24:15

game, not the game where I had some things

24:17

happen my kids weren't

24:19

there. But but

24:21

it definitely like makes

24:23

me maintain a sense of control when I

24:25

know they're they're right there in the stands,

24:28

that they're watching it right there.

24:30

So when Jake's at the game looking at me now

24:33

that he's fourteen, or my other daughters and they're

24:35

rolling their eyes.

24:36

After me, it

24:39

changes everything, right, No,

24:43

No, for sure, So I definitely understand

24:45

that. But I read

24:47

something where you said your investment,

24:51

well, your cell of the Mavericks is

24:53

an investment in specific partners

24:56

as well as a bet on real estate being

24:58

important to the future of the of

25:00

NBA ownership.

25:01

What was the reason.

25:03

Can you share a little bit more

25:05

or clarify a little bit more of that for

25:07

me or for our audience.

25:10

Look at Chase right with Joe and that whole

25:12

crew did right. Joe went

25:14

and put together the group. It was all private

25:17

funding and they build a place that's amazing,

25:19

and that's where they make more of their money.

25:21

I mean, I don't know all the numbers, but that's what I

25:23

would bet, right because and

25:25

look how much they spent to get there. I

25:28

don't know that shit at all. Right,

25:30

Yes, you know I did this because I love basketball.

25:32

I didn't do this to try to make as much money as I

25:34

could. You know, when we would do stuff,

25:37

it wasn't like Okay, I got to hit this budget

25:39

and it'd be like okay whatever, and that it

25:41

was good sometimes and it got me in trouble sometimes,

25:43

right because I wasn't paying attention to that side. But

25:46

now with the new CBA and

25:49

the way media is changing, I

25:52

know technology and media cold man.

25:54

I grew up with that. I know that stuff in and

25:56

out. I couldn't build a Chase Center if

25:58

I wanted to. My new partner, the

26:00

Patrick Dumont and the Allison's, that's

26:02

what they live for. Man, the sand He runs the Sandsport,

26:05

and you know, they're the biggest casino

26:07

people around the world and they build arenas.

26:09

This is what they live for, right, and so you

26:11

know, like on Shark Tank, I always say I'd rather

26:14

have twenty five percent of a watermelon than one hundred

26:16

percent of a grape, right, yes,

26:19

down to right. I just you know, because

26:22

I just I'm not good at asking people for money.

26:24

Let's go put together this thing, you know. I

26:27

just I love the game. I love being part

26:29

of it. I love the energy. I hate

26:31

losing, right, and I hate the pain of

26:33

it all. But I know what I'm good

26:35

at, and I know what I suck at, and I wasn't going to try

26:37

to lie to myself and do something I couldn't do.

26:40

That's special and the smartest

26:42

people in the world. You're also smart

26:44

because you know what you don't know. And

26:47

that's one of the things that I've tried to figure out.

26:50

You know.

26:51

Obviously I'm thirty four now, so

26:53

I've been doing some business, but and

26:56

getting the people around me that

26:58

knows what I don't know.

27:00

Basketball, though, right, you know your role,

27:02

and when your team, when everybody in their team knows

27:04

your role, you're pretty good, even if even

27:06

if everybody's not as talented as another. When

27:09

you don't people don't know their rules, the roles.

27:12

That's when things go to shit, right. And it's the

27:14

exact same way in business. And the hard

27:16

part is going through all

27:18

the ups and downs getting that squad

27:20

together right, because everybody's

27:23

got their own goals. Everybody's got, you know,

27:25

a limited career where they've got to accomplish

27:27

certain things. Some guys just want to stay in

27:29

it's all different. Well, in companies, it's the same

27:31

way, right, somebody, you know, it's

27:34

just a start to their career. They don't want

27:36

to stay in this city forever, so they're not going

27:38

to be there forever. Somebody's been at it for

27:40

you know, fifteen years. They know it's getting you

27:42

know, longer in the tooth. It's harder for them

27:44

to keep up, but they have this wisdom and experience.

27:46

How do you make all these people in the company mesh?

27:49

And when you're trying to invest in new

27:51

things, particularly like when things are changing

27:54

or new industries, whether it's AI and the tech

27:56

side or real estate and

27:58

all the changes that are happening, and you

28:01

got to know how to put together that team. I

28:04

didn't. I don't and I

28:06

just didn't fit my skill set and you

28:08

know it wasn't like I was paying them to

28:10

come in. I was getting paid for the right to

28:12

do that. So it was a

28:15

win win situation. And I got stay with

28:17

the basketball side, you know, and

28:19

you know, run out in the court when Kyrie

28:21

hits an insane shot and I'm end up poll

28:24

On like, you know, that's the

28:26

best part about owning, at least now owning part of a team

28:28

or owning the whole team. Back then, that shots

28:30

in the air, everybody's heart's pounding. I

28:32

get to run on the court and not got

28:35

arrested.

28:35

Man, the best they ever absolutely

28:38

And by the way, when

28:40

you started doing that, that brought

28:43

not only did it bring life

28:46

to NBA ownership, but I think it brought

28:48

a totally different perspective to

28:51

how people viewed NBA owners.

28:52

No one was as involved.

28:54

No owner was running on the court going

28:57

crazy.

28:58

You have no idea like the

29:00

guys like when I first got there, the old

29:02

dudes like inherited the teams want

29:04

them in a poker game or whatever, right they

29:07

I'd be in a meeting and at one time they were like, shut

29:09

the fuck up, You've never done anything

29:12

in this league. And then I called the dude

29:14

by the wrong name because I just got there

29:16

and just like it was like they

29:18

were just killing me all the time, finding

29:21

me. Like the first time I got fined, we

29:23

were in Minnesota, and I always wanted to set the tone

29:25

that there was no job on the basketball

29:27

side that I wouldn't do right, even on the other

29:30

side for that matter, business side. And so

29:32

I want, you know, the the

29:34

guys who sit on the floor,

29:36

they equip me guys, and then they'll get up, they'll

29:38

take your jersey whatever, give you warm ups

29:41

and everything. I'm like, I'm sitting with those dudes right because

29:43

I want to get to know them better. I want to see their job

29:45

and I want to be closer to the team, just get the feel

29:47

for the vibe, right, And they

29:49

find me one hundred thousand dollars.

29:52

I think it was my first full year for conduct

29:54

unbecoming an owner. I'm

29:56

like, you ain't seen nothing yet,

29:58

David.

30:02

That's hilarious, is it? So?

30:03

So so? Right now

30:06

after the sale has been completed, by

30:08

the way, I'm sorry, congratulations

30:11

on that. I think you know so many times,

30:14

you know, I have a I'm really

30:16

sorry because I have a huge pet peeve.

30:19

You know, just like yourself.

30:21

We have friends that are doing incredible

30:24

things, and so oftentimes

30:26

because our friends

30:28

have had so much success, right,

30:31

Like, you see something where it's like, oh,

30:34

Mark One's so broadcast dot

30:36

Com in ninety nine for five point seven

30:38

million dollars, So I don't really need to hit

30:40

him and say congratulations about selling them

30:42

for three point five million. I have three point

30:44

five billion, excuse me? Right Like, And

30:47

that happens so oftentimes to people

30:49

that's had success over and over

30:51

and over again, and so I apologize

30:53

congratulations on that.

30:54

It's okay. I'm okay with.

30:59

No problem.

31:00

But so, what is

31:03

your role currently now with the Dallas

31:05

Mavericks once you've completed the set up?

31:07

Just basketball? I don't have anything

31:09

else, you know, Nico and me

31:12

and just you know, because when you're the general

31:14

manager. By the way, Nico has done a phenomenal job,

31:17

right, he's stud but there's

31:19

still there's the sense of a

31:21

general manager is different than the sense of an

31:23

owner, right because the owner's got

31:26

to think not just in terms of one year or even

31:28

three years or this contract or next time.

31:30

You've got to have a longer horizon and

31:32

you've got to think more in terms of the CBA,

31:35

and you know, you're the bigger picture.

31:37

How much money you're willing to lose and luxury

31:39

tax right, how much you're willing to spend. You got to make

31:41

that decision right where you

31:43

know, the young manager just wants to win or keep

31:45

the job whatever it is, right, So it's just

31:48

a different perspective. And

31:50

and plus Nico, you know, is new

31:52

to the basketball side, and so there's

31:54

somebody got to be that guy that that's been

31:56

there a long time and is done in a long time.

31:58

So it's a great partnership of working

32:00

with the guy. And you know, it's been easy for me

32:02

to give him more and more responsibility because he's

32:04

so good at it.

32:05

Yeah, No, Nico is incredible. I had the opportunity

32:07

to work with Nico for my first nine

32:12

years in the NBA, I want to say when he was

32:14

with Nike, and he

32:17

he was always incredible. He was always

32:19

very honest, which I can always appreciate.

32:22

He was always extremely honest

32:24

with me.

32:25

If I if I called him and I'm like, Nico, I

32:27

want I want to I want a

32:29

signature shoe, Nico's response

32:32

probably would be, Dre, I love

32:34

you. You can't sell a signature shoe

32:36

like always just but just

32:38

honest.

32:39

Silent assassin. He's like silent

32:42

assassin, right to pull no punches

32:45

whatsoever exactly.

32:46

And I think that's absolutely incredible,

32:48

And I was so excited.

32:50

Like I know, Nico had teetered.

32:51

Around with some assistant GM

32:53

jobs throughout the years. I think the Spurs

32:56

was one of them, and a couple other maybe the Lakers

32:58

was one of them. He was you know, him and Kobe

33:00

what they built. And I was

33:02

so excited to see him get the opportunity

33:05

to be the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks

33:08

because I know what type of person

33:10

Nico is, and I know the type

33:12

of loyalty you've shown to players who's

33:14

played for you, coaches,

33:17

who's coach for you, general

33:19

managers, who's been the general manager of your teams.

33:21

I know the type of loyalty, And being

33:23

in this business, I care about Nico, Like we

33:26

built a great relationship.

33:27

I still talk to Nico to this day.

33:28

Like being in this business to see

33:31

him uproot his family from Portland

33:33

to Dallas that have been home forever and

33:37

like and to know, like, but you're going

33:39

to a guy that's going to be willing to grow with you

33:41

like you're and.

33:42

It's going to be loyal to you.

33:44

I was really happy to see that

33:46

because I knew it would be a good situation for

33:48

him.

33:49

The family, I mean, the kids, they're good

33:51

people, right, So it makes it easy for me, you

33:54

know, And it's just a matter of letting him take his steps

33:56

and you know, trusting him to

33:58

do things. You know, I still still talk and

34:00

everything, and you know, still get involved,

34:02

but you know, every day he

34:05

gets more and more responsibility and he

34:07

just keeps on getting better. And that's all you can ask.

34:09

That's absolutely incredible. That

34:12

was That was a.

34:16

Little rumor around that you

34:18

were scared on what the next

34:20

TV deal brings in that uh

34:23

that that's one of the reasons you sold the team.

34:25

Is there any truth to that in this? So what are

34:27

you thinking about the new TV deal?

34:29

Good question, right, You can't look at linear

34:32

television and not be scared.

34:33

Yes, right, yes, that's right.

34:36

Look, I'm on Shark Tank. I see her. Our

34:38

ratings every week used to be like

34:40

when the show aired, we'd have nine ten million

34:42

viewers. Now there's three four million

34:44

viewers, right, And that's the same thing

34:47

across But on the flip side the

34:49

shows that do do well sports,

34:52

right, so they need us more.

34:54

But then one step further, like

34:57

Bally's was our local broadcaster

35:00

and they want bankrupt, right, and

35:02

so they got bailed out by Amazon.

35:04

So if streamers come

35:06

in and are as big as I think they are

35:08

going to be, it won't be an issue. Right,

35:10

Yes, even if I'm eighty

35:13

percent confident, there's always that twenty percent

35:15

chance, right, So it's hard

35:17

to peg it exactly. I don't think we're

35:19

going to have a problem for the next ten years

35:22

after that. I have no idea, right,

35:25

who knows what the world's going to be like from a

35:27

technology and streaming and

35:29

AI and multimedia.

35:32

You know, what I do think is

35:34

a source of revenue that is

35:36

under monetized is social

35:38

media, right, because we

35:41

are the biggest thing. The NBA is huge

35:43

on social media, right, you know that you see

35:45

it. You know, guys in the NBA are

35:48

you know, other than maybe you know soccer

35:50

overseas, right, the biggest athletes

35:53

on the planet, and that

35:55

carries a lot of value.

35:58

And so I think, you know, I, you know, I

36:00

pushed hard and continue to push hard that

36:02

we're under monetizing that. So even if

36:04

those deals aren't quite where I expect them to

36:07

be. I think the social media side will pick

36:09

up the slack at some point, maybe not this year,

36:11

but five, ten years, whatever it is. So

36:13

I think the NBA will be okay. So you

36:15

know, from it wasn't so much that, but

36:17

it was definitely the real estate side, like explained

36:20

to you, and look, you know the whole twenty five

36:22

percent of a watermelon. If we're able to get

36:24

casino gaming passed resort casino

36:26

gaming passed in Texas, could you imagine

36:29

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Oh my god.

37:50

By the way, I love Dallas, So that's

37:52

like music to my ears.

37:54

I love that city.

37:56

It's a great city.

37:57

Right.

37:57

It's now saw something like between

37:59

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38:01

and we're like the fifth largest, you know, DMA.

38:04

So there's there's nothing but upside

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38:10

Absolutely.

38:10

But that's got to be a tough thing to get past in

38:12

Texas. No, like with it being a red.

38:14

State, Like yeah, I

38:16

mean, now you know there's thirty one states that support

38:18

gaming and so it's not

38:21

as it's wins.

38:22

Okay, that's that's amazing. I know if somebody,

38:24

anybody can do a UK but.

38:26

Yeah, I don't even know about that. But you know, but we're

38:28

not trying to pitch okay, more online gaming,

38:31

right, It's not like this is not app based. We're

38:33

talking about building a resort so

38:35

that you know, you two can come in here and

38:37

be the house band, right or Travis Scott

38:39

can be the house ban and you know

38:42

for different so you can bring everybody

38:44

to the spot and it's going to generate billions

38:46

in revenue for the state. You know, it's

38:48

not going to generate two hundred million dollars

38:51

like gaming does. Online gaming does. It's

38:53

real money that states can't ignore. And

38:55

the other thing like when I pitch it, right, it's

38:57

like, what's the one spot that you want to

39:00

in your family to come visit in Texas?

39:02

What's the one vacation fund Texas?

39:04

Well, I want to go to

39:06

Dallas, but it's not really much of.

39:08

A vacation exactly,

39:12

in Dallas.

39:13

Yes, you're saving your money

39:15

absolutely.

39:16

Coming to Dallas, Right, that's the whole

39:18

point. That's why I think it'll pass.

39:20

I love that, and I think I think it'll

39:23

be great in the upside of that for that

39:25

city, Like I don't think people know

39:27

the amount of wealth that's actually in Dallas,

39:30

Like for that city, Oh my

39:32

god, it'd be through the roof.

39:33

And then you're.

39:34

Basing that around basketball

39:36

team, like that's next level. Well,

39:41

I must be honest. The first part

39:43

of that interview, we got about twenty minutes left with Mark,

39:45

and we're going to get into this

39:48

right okay, okay, But the

39:50

first part of that interview was for me. I wanted to ask

39:52

you all of these questions and just things

39:55

like I respect how brilliant

39:57

you are, how intense you are, how you

39:59

go about business.

40:00

And that was for me.

40:01

But let's get into some basketball stuff.

40:03

Like you in twenty eleven,

40:06

you won the championship and you

40:09

were allowed about it and I loved

40:11

it. But

40:14

and and all the success that you've had,

40:16

you know, like five

40:19

point seven billion dollars Sell, I can't I

40:21

can't get over that three point five recently,

40:23

insane.

40:24

Out of all the success that you have.

40:26

Where does winning that championship rank

40:28

amongst your career accomplishments?

40:31

Well, after family, the

40:34

money comes after the championship. No, the money

40:36

comes before the championship, then the championship, right,

40:38

Yes, I mean Hilario O'Brien back there, right,

40:41

all right, but he's lowly. I'm

40:45

jealous of you. Right. That's that stuff is

40:47

hard and so and it's been

40:49

so long now, right, it's just like, you know, until

40:51

you guys won again, you know, two years ago,

40:55

it was like, when's it going to happen again? And so it's

40:58

just it's just hard and

41:00

so can't happen soon enough. But

41:02

it's definitely that was that was a great moment. But

41:04

you know this better than I do. Right, it's almost

41:06

anti climatic, and it's more

41:09

a stress release than it is a celebration

41:13

because you're building up. You're building up,

41:15

you're building up, and you know that's the pinnacle, right,

41:18

And when you get there, it's like you

41:20

just expect the skies, the park, the

41:22

scenes, the part and when it happened the

41:24

first time, and you're like,

41:29

nothing really changed, I mean other than the

41:31

whole city going nuts and everything, but still

41:33

you know, and so, but then that stress

41:36

starts building again the next season even

41:38

more so, and then the next season, so you

41:40

know, just for the stress release of it all, I want

41:42

more.

41:43

Yes, sir, I know, I get it. And you know what's

41:45

crazy when we want our first one and

41:48

to your point, being so anti climactic,

41:52

when we want our first one, I

41:54

was like, Wow, this feels

41:56

amazing. Immediately

41:58

after that, the feeling switch to

42:01

I can't imagine never filling this feeling again.

42:03

It almost becomes depressing, right.

42:06

Stress begins right, So I'm like, we're

42:09

just gonna go party. I'm putting all this out of my mind.

42:11

We're gonna go have a good time. We're going club,

42:13

whatever, dirt, whatever, jet, whatever those guys

42:16

want. Yes, that's what exactly we're gonna

42:18

do. I get back, and you know, that's

42:20

what makes this business different than every other because the

42:22

city's on fire, right, You're going to have a

42:24

parade, people are screaming in the streets,

42:26

everybody's pouring out, and you're just dying

42:28

to get back there to be part of it. I took that

42:30

trophy everywhere. I

42:34

never had to buy a drink for another year, even

42:36

outside of Dallas, because we beat the Heatles,

42:39

right, and so it

42:42

was just but then, like you said, and honestly,

42:45

that was when we had a lockout and

42:47

I never thought we were going to go back and play

42:49

it all. I really thought we were going to miss

42:51

the whole year, and so it

42:54

made it even crazier.

42:56

No, that's that's that's amazing.

42:58

Well, and then y'all on and y'all have

43:00

like the largest bill and live in

43:03

one of the largest guys at that time and lived

43:05

nightclub history. And that's when lived,

43:08

Like live today is great,

43:10

it's lived, but live then live

43:13

was a totally different story.

43:17

That's when live was lived. How was that night

43:19

a party? Because that, by the way, we went

43:21

to Vegas after our championship and I will never

43:23

forget that true.

43:24

How was that night?

43:25

Oh it's insane, right, I mean, you know, they

43:27

have the stage where the DJ is and we're up there stinging

43:30

and I've got this one hundred and forty thousand dollars

43:32

bottle of champagne and we're trying to

43:34

lift it and drink it and you know,

43:37

just stupid shit that if there weren't videos

43:39

and pictures, I'd never remember, right.

43:40

Yes, that kind of night that's

43:44

amazing. Oh

43:46

man, that's incredible. I would have

43:48

loved I would have paid to be there for that celebration.

43:51

Oh man, Miami, that's

43:54

the time.

43:55

Yeah, it was fun.

43:57

That's the time.

43:59

So very very

44:01

important moment in NBA

44:03

history, and it's important

44:06

now on an individual level.

44:08

This guy is so incredible.

44:10

It will soon be important on a team level

44:12

as well, with the trajectory of his career.

44:15

Drafting Luka Doncic.

44:17

And it took a trade for

44:21

y'all for y'all to do that. Just talk

44:23

talk to me about how that came about, How how

44:25

y'all knew Luca was the guy because

44:28

I had a friend. Well, I have a friend that

44:30

played overseas, played year old league player,

44:32

and when Luca was like seventeen years old,

44:35

sixteen, He's like, Yo, it's this sixteen, seventeen

44:37

year old over here on Real Madrid. I'm

44:39

telling y'all he going to be the next

44:41

one. And a couple of me and my boys was like, yo, you

44:44

don't think.

44:44

He too slow.

44:45

You don't think and he's like, no, I'm telling

44:47

you, he going to get to whatever spot he wanted to get

44:49

to. He's smart, he shoot like talk

44:51

to me, talk to me about drafting Luca.

44:53

What was that process.

44:54

Like, Like our scouts had it

44:58

DeAndre eighty number one, our

45:00

analytics had Luca number one. And

45:03

so it was you know, it wasn't a battle,

45:05

right because we knew Eighton was

45:07

going to go number one. Right then the question

45:10

was what happens next? Yes, we're

45:12

thinking for sure, you know

45:14

Luca is going number two because they

45:17

have there's a connection there. Everything

45:19

right, and didn't happen. Right

45:22

gets to number three, and first

45:24

of all, the crazy part is, I'm

45:26

not going to use the word, but we worked hard to

45:28

have the third worst record in the NBA.

45:33

We fell right to number five. The MAVs

45:35

have never moved up in the draft, never

45:37

moved up, only stayed the same or gone down. So

45:40

we fall to five. And so

45:43

we're hearing that the Hawks won trade

45:46

and the general managers are talking, talking,

45:48

talking, not getting done. So about thirty

45:50

minutes to go, it's

45:53

coming up to our time. You know, either get it

45:55

done and we're not. We're not going to have a chance. And

45:57

so I ended up getting on the phone with the

46:00

Hawk's owner and we hashed

46:02

it out ourselves, and it was like, look, the

46:04

general managers. They're all over negotiating

46:07

owner and the owner, let's just get this done. And

46:09

with about fifteen minutes to go before our pick,

46:11

we got it done.

46:13

See.

46:13

Now that's a pro move, Mark because Luca

46:16

and by the way, Trey Young has had an incredible

46:19

career, a great career.

46:22

Uh, But Luca Lucas

46:24

generational, Like Luca is.

46:29

On any given night the best player in the NBA,

46:32

like you know, So Lucas generational

46:34

to me is just a little different.

46:36

Trade is great. I think trade is incredible.

46:39

But you just don't know, right. I mean, look, we

46:41

make the trade and we go to China

46:43

to play, and Sean Marion

46:46

and I forget who else from the NBA. You know how they have ambassadors

46:49

when you go overseas and everything, and they're sitting

46:51

next to me and he's starting to play. I'm like, tell

46:53

me what you think. Tell you because you just don't

46:55

know, right, Yes, no,

46:58

until you know, you know, nobody

47:00

picks somebody at the top of the draft thinking

47:02

they suck.

47:03

Yeah, you know that's a fact.

47:05

Whatever it is that you see, you're

47:07

just praying to God that that's what comes through.

47:10

And so we don't know. And

47:12

in the preseason, you're starting to see

47:15

little glimmers, and then the regular season

47:17

and he's you know, he's still getting started

47:19

and still finding his way, and then all of a sudden

47:21

you start seeing these things. You're like, all

47:24

right, this is the guy.

47:25

Absolutely.

47:26

So I have a question to ask you because you

47:28

said you got on the phone with the

47:31

Hawks owner. I'm assuming Tony Wrestler.

47:33

Okay, So I'm assuming you got on Tony. And

47:35

at this time, Tony's what two years

47:38

into owning the Hawks. If even two years,

47:41

it pretty fairly new. You've now

47:43

been in this for twenty years? Uh?

47:46

Is that a classic moment of saying

47:48

when you hire a general manager, let them

47:51

do their job. And here's why I asked that, because

47:53

you who's been in there for twenty years, your

47:56

like, you and Joe are

47:58

probably as much of decision

48:00

makers when it comes to basketball

48:03

as there are of any owners in the NBA.

48:06

And you get on the phone and you hash this

48:08

out with Tony. But the

48:11

difference between Luca and Trey has been

48:13

a fireable offense for other people and

48:16

you, But you.

48:18

Know the Hawks go to the conference finals his

48:20

year, right, Yes, you

48:23

just don't know. And they're looking brilliant.

48:25

We don't make the playoffs, right, and

48:27

no, we make the playoffs, Yeah,

48:30

we make the player. No, we didn't make the playoffs

48:32

that first year, right, Yeah, And they're

48:35

looking like heroes right, yes, the

48:37

conference finals and we haven't made the playoffs. And

48:39

so you just don't know, and it just takes

48:41

time. And like we were talking earlier, you

48:44

can have a generational player. You can

48:46

have Michael Jordan, you can have Lebron. Lebron

48:49

didn't make the playoffs this first year. You know, Michael

48:52

didn't make the playoffs the first couple of years, and

48:54

so it takes a team for

48:56

sure.

48:57

Vladi Dvac lost his job over that because

48:59

he drafted Arvin Bagley.

49:00

If I'm not mistaken.

49:02

Travis Slink has been out in

49:04

Atlanta. But that doesn't seem

49:07

like your your way to go, like you had

49:09

Donnie for years like

49:11

that. You don't you ironically,

49:14

Pittsburgh Steelers, you don't seem to flip

49:16

guys much. What's your like, what's

49:18

your take on building front offices

49:21

and coaches and retaining them because

49:23

they get flipped over like nobody tomorrow around

49:25

this league.

49:25

But you don't quite take that approach.

49:27

Yeah, I mean, until you've got something better to go to,

49:30

why would you change? Right, Hiring a coach

49:32

in particular is the hardest job in professional

49:34

sports because walking

49:36

the door. And they're smart,

49:39

right, that's why they're got They've

49:41

got the opportunity to be a head coach in the NBA.

49:43

So they can tell you, point by point by point what's

49:45

already wrong with your team, and they

49:47

can tell you what they think they want to do to

49:49

get it there and what you need to do. And

49:53

it's hard to say no too, So you've got to look at

49:55

the non obvious factors,

49:57

like when we got and it depends

49:59

on your team too. So like when we went from

50:01

Avery Johnson to Rick, we had

50:03

the team that we had, but we needed

50:06

just a different kind of voice, right,

50:08

And then when Rick left, it was like, Okay, let's

50:10

get a different kind of voice with Jay

50:12

Kidd, you know, because Nico was coming

50:14

in at the same time too, And so you

50:17

know, unless there's a reason to change,

50:19

or I've got something better, why

50:21

change?

50:22

Yeah?

50:23

Yeah, absolutely, no, I definitely understand

50:25

that. And speaking

50:27

continuing on the laying of basketball and what you've done

50:29

with the Mavericks, Dirk obviously

50:32

has statue, obviously Hall of Fame,

50:34

obviously Championship,

50:37

MVP, more accolades

50:39

up until this point. But do you think that Luka

50:41

Doncis has a chance to be the greatest

50:43

Maverick ever in Like, obviously

50:45

Dirk is who Dirk is.

50:47

I'm no disrespect to Dirt. Dirk knows I love him to

50:49

death, right, dirty, and I go way way back. But

50:51

Dirk will be the first one to tell you Luca's better.

50:54

Interesting, that's interesting.

50:57

Dirt put Dirt put me in a blender

50:59

at four already barely being able

51:01

to run,

51:02

so.

51:05

Jump over the line, right, But you

51:07

can shoot, and he's smart. But you

51:09

needed to get him the ball, yes,

51:14

And that's part of what's changed. Like you

51:16

need almost have to have a six six

51:18

sixty seven six ' eight guy who can

51:21

control the ball and get a shot,

51:23

you know, or get shots for others, because

51:26

the game is so much faster and so much more skilled.

51:29

Right Whereas before you knew

51:31

that there would be somebody good

51:33

guarding Dirk and they were double him, but you just had to get

51:35

him the ball in one of the spots and let him go to work.

51:38

Absolutely, the game's changed. You can't

51:40

just do that anymore.

51:41

Yeah, no, I understand

51:43

that that definitely makes a difference. You

51:47

made one of the controversial moves

51:50

as of late in the NBA and

51:53

going going out to get Kyrie Irving for a

51:55

variety of reason. Actually was talking about Kyrie

51:57

Irving on podcasts a couple of nights

52:00

to just run and throw a left hand run

52:02

and hook like and like, oh

52:05

my god.

52:06

You can't even talk about that. Look like

52:09

a two k right, It's like.

52:10

Why would you do that? Like what would entice

52:13

you to try that like at that moment in the

52:15

game.

52:15

But he is that skilled, right,

52:19

He's probably only shot that ball, you

52:21

know, that same shot maybe from not

52:23

twenty one feet but eight or

52:25

fifteen feet.

52:26

Yes, he has.

52:27

Kyrie is one of the most, if

52:30

not the most skilled guy in the NBA.

52:33

But at the time he had been going through the things

52:35

with.

52:37

The Jewish video, the anti Semitic,

52:39

Semitic video that everyone was speaking

52:42

about that it was on his Instagram, and he

52:44

had been suspended with the COVID uh

52:47

not suspended, but ruled out

52:49

due to the COVID vaccine and all of those things.

52:51

And you took it up on yourself, you Nico

52:54

and your staff took it up on yourselves

52:56

and say no, we want this guy,

52:58

Like, what was the thinking and then

53:00

also knowing that he's a free agent

53:03

and kawalk like, what was the thinking behind

53:05

the process.

53:06

Of going to get Kyrie?

53:07

One? When you watch Kai back

53:09

then and now after any game, he's

53:12

hugging five guys.

53:14

Yes, yes, you know.

53:15

It's not like high five quick hug

53:18

walk out the court. He's hugging you like you're

53:20

related. Yes, you know, and that

53:23

that's different. And when

53:25

you talk to people around him before that we did

53:27

the deal, nobody disliked him. Everybody

53:30

loved him. When you talk to teammates,

53:32

you know, current informers loved them

53:34

right, and when you ask them what

53:37

the issue was, it was like, well,

53:39

you know, media, you know, and

53:43

Kyrie's just a caring guy and sometimes

53:45

he lets that heart come through and the media

53:47

doesn't appreciate it. I'm like, shit, I

53:49

can deal with the media. This is Dallas. I've grown

53:51

up dealing with the media. I'll take all those bullets

53:53

like I've done for other guys, you

53:56

know, and then Nico knows them and you

53:58

know, help them issue. Nico's like, guy's

54:00

great. Everybody you know, I know the kid, he's

54:02

a good kid. He's got a great heart.

54:05

Just you know, bad situation. If COVID

54:07

never happened, probably be a completely different

54:09

situation, right, So we're like, Okay,

54:11

let's go for it, and let me

54:13

just tell you I love Ti to death. You

54:15

know, the more I talk to him,

54:18

he's just he's got

54:20

a heart of gold, right, And he cares

54:23

about too many things, right. If he's got a problem,

54:25

it's like he's too caring about too

54:27

many things. He's a dude, like when

54:29

you're when you're in college

54:32

and you and your guys are talking about alcohol

54:34

and getting drunk and you know, girls,

54:37

he wants to talk about world peace and the

54:39

indigenous tribes of

54:42

Australia, right, and

54:44

you know everything else is off limits. Everybody

54:46

else is doing their thing, right, I

54:48

just wants to open up and talk about that. And

54:51

when you're on social media

54:54

and you're talking to the media about

54:56

those things, there's no nuance

54:58

in this world, any world, right, They're

55:01

not going to get that. And like

55:03

Kain I will talk like after Hama's

55:05

attack Israel, right, and we're talking

55:08

and we're like, I'm like, what do you think, Kai,

55:10

And he's like look, terrorist is

55:12

wrong, right, but how can you not feel

55:15

for the you know, not only the people

55:17

that got slaughtered in Israel, but what's

55:20

going to happen to the Gazans? Right, and what's going

55:22

to happen. He's not like taking

55:24

sides. And he's certainly against terrorism,

55:26

and he's like clear, I'm against terrorism, but

55:29

he wants to feel how other people feel,

55:32

you know, he respects that pain,

55:35

you know, and it's not just you know the Middle

55:37

East, it's Australia, it's Soudan,

55:39

it's you know, American Indians in

55:42

this country, it's Lakota tribe.

55:44

Like I'm sending them links to documentaries

55:46

on the Lakota tribe. Right. He wants

55:48

to learn and he wants to care about those things.

55:51

And how many people do you know like that?

55:53

Yeah, that's a fact. Not many. So

55:56

that's a special person he is.

55:58

I mean, he's somebody

56:00

that when you get you know, there's certain people when

56:02

you hug them, you feel who

56:04

they are.

56:06

That's Kyrie Irvy one percent.

56:08

Did you take as a Jewish man though, did you

56:10

take like did you get a lot

56:12

of backlash from like Jewish friends or Jewish

56:15

family members?

56:16

Because yeah, yeah, no, but

56:18

the men, and I talked to him like, dude, I talked to him. He's not

56:20

anti semitic. Yes, people

56:22

who are more anti Semitic than he is not.

56:27

You just got to talk to him. And you

56:29

know, but Kyrie did have to adjust,

56:31

right, he had to. Like we had a conversations

56:34

like, look, Kyle, you can't just

56:36

say these things on social media

56:38

or wherever expect people to understand

56:40

how you feel about them. So you have

56:43

to be a little bit more careful. And he goes, You're right,

56:45

I will be.

56:46

And he has been, and

56:48

he has been. It's absolutely wonderful

56:50

to watch. I'm happy for kay We got a

56:53

chance to win an Olympic medal together in twenty

56:55

sixteen and built a really good relationship.

56:57

And I'm happy to see him doing what.

56:59

He thriving at it and

57:01

not having to deal with all of the stuff that he

57:03

doesn't.

57:04

Like to do. Yeah. I mean, it's just the

57:06

joy in his eyes, Like he's bringing

57:09

his daughter into the locker

57:11

room after every game and his kids when

57:13

they're there. I mean, it's just he brings

57:15

joy to what he does. And he's

57:17

the first to tell you this is my profession.

57:20

I want to be great at my craft. I

57:22

want to be the best all time, but I

57:24

also want to be a human being because I got to

57:26

live a much longer life after I'm done playing.

57:29

But I want to have my tribe, right, I want

57:31

to have my community. That's important to

57:33

me. And you know, we don't talk about

57:35

it as much now as we did during the off season,

57:38

but you know, just being able to communicate

57:40

with him about those things, it's special.

57:43

And it's like now with Ramadan, right, it's

57:45

not like okay, no, it's

57:48

okay, let's make sure we have food. Ridikuo

57:50

and I have the conversation. The minute

57:52

that sun goes down, feed

57:55

the guy playing,

58:00

I forget where we were playing. Oh

58:02

my god, it wasn't anyways,

58:05

he's looking you could tell what time it was, right,

58:08

And the minute he's got a time out, he ran

58:10

to the back and he came out with some food and everything,

58:13

and I'm like, oh, ship, right, we got to do that right.

58:15

I didn't even think about it originally, and it was like

58:17

the first day of Ramana, and so Niko

58:19

and I talked and Okay, we're going to get this right

58:21

for him. And you know, it's just those little

58:23

things that when you respect the player, you

58:26

know, from Luca to Kai to

58:28

all the way down. When you respect

58:30

him, they know it right and

58:33

how and it helps no one.

58:35

It does help, and that's what makes guys want

58:37

to come back and stay somewhere for their

58:40

entire careers, for the rest of their careers.

58:43

It helps one. A

58:48

couple more questions.

58:48

But before we get out of here, and

58:52

speaking of Kai and Luca, what

58:54

does this team need currently?

58:57

You guys went out and got big Daniel Gaffer, who

58:59

I think was still by the way

59:02

like he been tucked in Washington, and

59:04

that's been tough. Daniel Gaffer

59:07

is a steal and so

59:09

Nico special.

59:10

That's Nico one hundred percent of the way right.

59:13

That was see, like we got it

59:15

done. We got it done, right. I

59:17

think we just we got to stay healthy like everybody,

59:19

right, and just a little bit more time, you

59:21

know, because we basically are changing

59:24

how we play, right, So we've

59:26

now we can be vertical forty eight minutes.

59:29

Yeah, we couldn't do that before.

59:31

So and so guys who are shooting

59:33

threes before aren't getting quite

59:35

as many rhythm shots, which has made it a little

59:37

bit tougher on them, right because

59:39

before like with Timmy and Josh

59:42

Green and Maxie, they were

59:44

getting more threes, but now we're just getting

59:46

lobs right, and so our

59:48

centers are putting up twenty five

59:50

and fourteen right. It's just

59:52

like we brought in Shack. You know,

59:56

we've just got to get used to that rhythm.

59:58

But and then defensive, like

1:00:00

you know, you just got to get you've got

1:00:02

to get put together right, so everybody

1:00:05

knows exactly how we're and when

1:00:07

right and so. But it's coming together

1:00:09

right, you see it. And then you

1:00:11

know, like a lot of teams, we just got to not

1:00:13

relax, you know when we've got you know, you

1:00:16

win a big game and then you play against somebody you

1:00:18

think you should be easy. There are

1:00:20

no easy games in the NBA anymore. Just

1:00:22

too much talent.

1:00:23

That's a fact.

1:00:24

And I think you're ahead of the curve when

1:00:26

you talk about getting vertical, having

1:00:29

bigs that can get vertical the whole game, because.

1:00:31

The game, the game is doing a weird

1:00:33

thing right now.

1:00:34

As you know, the NBA game changes every

1:00:36

four to six years dramatically, and

1:00:39

the game is doing a weird thing right now

1:00:41

where it's getting bigger, but it's

1:00:43

not only is it getting bigger, it's getting more athletic

1:00:46

and faster, and y'all

1:00:49

are covering those bases well with a big dan

1:00:51

you got for Derry Lively will be an All Star

1:00:53

in this in this league like, and you guys

1:00:55

are covering that. So that's absolutely

1:00:57

great to see.

1:00:58

Lord, right, rookie, Yes,

1:01:01

yes, here we are. But we're

1:01:04

changing our style of play in real time and

1:01:07

that takes time on both ends of the court. But

1:01:10

you know that, you know the

1:01:13

opportunity is there.

1:01:15

Yes, and

1:01:17

with this obviously me being a dub

1:01:19

uh and coming here. When I came here,

1:01:22

the only thing I would hear, what's your

1:01:24

favorite Warriors moment?

1:01:26

Do we believe team in O seven? That's

1:01:29

all we were hearing me and stuff.

1:01:31

Me and Stephan Clay used to laugh, like these

1:01:33

people are just excited about the first round victory,

1:01:36

Like what is going on around time?

1:01:39

Except for me, it was horrible. Let

1:01:42

me say the best part about the best

1:01:44

part about that series. If there was one right

1:01:46

to put aside losing right, I

1:01:50

would walk out to the court right from

1:01:52

the back in Oakland,

1:01:55

and the minute I hit the court, the whole

1:01:57

place would start chanting. Cuban sucksub

1:02:00

such Cuban sucks. And I was

1:02:02

like, what I

1:02:05

like to put up on the jumbo tron, and

1:02:07

then I'd walk out to see if they did it again.

1:02:10

Shuck.

1:02:14

By the way, I get that at every

1:02:17

arena I walk into outside

1:02:19

UH. I get a little bit in Detroit

1:02:22

because there's some Michigan fans,

1:02:24

but not really so outside of Chase.

1:02:27

Detroit and Boston fans can't boom

1:02:29

me really anymore. They stopped, they

1:02:32

stopped. But other than that, I

1:02:34

get it everywhere I go. Last

1:02:38

question, I appreciate you. I appreciate

1:02:40

you taking the time you openly

1:02:42

spoke about UH, and you just mentioned

1:02:44

it earlier. The guys that you've lost,

1:02:46

and Steve Nash being one of them,

1:02:50

how did that propel you as an owner

1:02:52

to help you grow?

1:02:53

Y'all? I think y'all offers

1:02:55

Nash somewhere around.

1:02:56

Nine million a year for four years, and he got

1:02:58

sixty three.

1:02:59

Yeah. I still got the pad where I took the notes where

1:03:01

Steve called me to give me that last chance, right

1:03:04

where I wrote down Mike Bibby money.

1:03:06

No, lie, I've got it written down on that sheet of

1:03:08

paper. Mike Bibbie money is what he wanted,

1:03:11

which was like the max out at the time, which sounds

1:03:13

so insane right now, right, But

1:03:15

it was more you know that

1:03:18

Steve had only played like twenty eight

1:03:20

twenty nine minutes a game that previous

1:03:23

year, and we were worried about the injuries. Yeah,

1:03:25

and just that was it

1:03:27

in a nutshell, And so it

1:03:30

wasn't any disrespect to his game. And

1:03:32

and honestly, I think that propelled Steve right, the

1:03:34

fact that we let him go and

1:03:37

et cetera, et cetera, and two time MVP, great

1:03:39

guy, loved the death. You know, we're friends

1:03:41

again. But yeah,

1:03:44

it was a mistake, the biggest mistake I ever made with

1:03:46

the MAVs.

1:03:48

I mean, but does Dirk become the Dirk

1:03:50

that he became of Steve? Still? Was Steve

1:03:52

become Steve? Yeah?

1:03:54

But I'd rather take my chances for

1:03:56

those two guys

1:03:57

can agree.

1:03:58

I agree, agree.

1:04:00

I screwed up really really, really bad. In hindsight,

1:04:03

No, and we all do.

1:04:05

Mark. I can't thank you enough. This

1:04:07

is this is an honor for me.

1:04:08

I think back to that

1:04:11

day and by the way, one thing, one

1:04:13

thing I can't admit, you were right. I was dumb

1:04:15

and shit and didn't know business how I thought I knew

1:04:17

business at that time.

1:04:20

State were killing on me right

1:04:22

like it was something else. I was just like, Oh, it's

1:04:24

just.

1:04:25

Can but listen you.

1:04:28

I look back at some of the statements I

1:04:30

would make back then about business and I'd

1:04:32

be like, dude, you had no clue

1:04:34

what you were talking about, and you thought you

1:04:36

did. It's even like not

1:04:39

to throw straight, but it is what it is to

1:04:41

see Caleb Williams come out like, whatever

1:04:43

team drafts me, I want ownership of the team.

1:04:46

When I saw.

1:04:47

Him say that, I was like, that's how

1:04:49

I used to look when I would make some of

1:04:51

these statements like it just doesn't make sense.

1:04:53

I still say a lot of stupid ship. But

1:04:56

you know what, if you're staying stupid shit, you're trying

1:04:58

new ship, right this is that's not a

1:05:00

bad thing. So I can live with my mistakes,

1:05:02

man. But yeah,

1:05:05

I appreciate it that.

1:05:06

That to me was a big moment.

1:05:09

And when when you said that, I

1:05:11

didn't necessarily take it like bad.

1:05:14

I was just like, let me look deeper

1:05:16

into that.

1:05:17

And as I have, what were

1:05:19

you right? And I was far.

1:05:21

Off, Oh I wish you were in the league

1:05:23

when Phil Jackson and I would go at it

1:05:25

right because then it was pre social media,

1:05:27

and he would give me shit in the newspaper or

1:05:29

whatever, and then I would go right back

1:05:32

at him right. I called him my bucket

1:05:34

boy. I called him you know, Shaq

1:05:36

and Kobe and the band of Merry Minimums.

1:05:39

So I would go hard at it because

1:05:41

it was so much fun because you would

1:05:43

just talk to the beat reporter. The beat reporter would

1:05:46

like take it and run with it, and there

1:05:48

was no you know, it'd be on the internet on a web

1:05:50

page somewhere, but there was no social media to

1:05:52

put it out immediately. So it was a different

1:05:54

day. But it was fun. I mean, so if

1:05:57

you ever talked to Shaq, ask him about Shaq

1:05:59

Albert, right, Albert? So

1:06:02

remember Fat Albert? You know, Yes, I

1:06:06

made a video. I made a cartoon

1:06:09

where we put Shaq's head on Fat

1:06:11

Albert and we was like, hey, hey,

1:06:13

hey, Shaq Albert, and we showed

1:06:15

it right before he was showed shoot

1:06:18

free throws, and

1:06:22

Shaq would just crack up, you

1:06:24

know, And so I

1:06:27

can't. You can't get away with that stuff anymore.

1:06:29

But I every button

1:06:31

that I could.

1:06:32

Oh man, that is amazing.

1:06:34

And that that my friend is

1:06:36

me in a nutshell.

1:06:37

I push every button that I can.

1:06:40

I can't thank you enough. Mark, This is an honor,

1:06:43

absolute pleasure. Thank you for sharing your knowledge

1:06:46

with myself, with our fan base. Uh

1:06:49

first owner that we've had on the show.

1:06:51

Thank you so much. I truly appreciate

1:06:54

it, and all of my dumb shit that

1:06:56

I said. I appreciate you never taking the personal

1:06:59

never.

1:06:59

Man, it's the same ways my

1:07:01

skin is really really thick, right, So I don't

1:07:03

I don't care.

1:07:04

I love it.

1:07:05

I love it a lot of fun. It was a great interview.

1:07:08

Thank you so much. I appreciate you Mark. Yes,

1:07:11

sir go does. We'll see y'all soon next

1:07:13

week.