While Prospective Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban's bid for
the team will not be voted on during the All-Star Weekend,
"some NBA owners have disapproved of Cuban's high-profile
handling of the team" and "questioned [his] catering to the
Mavericks players," according to Dwain Price of the FT.
WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. Cuban was quoted recently as saying
about the NBA owners, "I've met some of them, and they made
it very clear I'm still just a prospective owner." Cuban's
"generous" actions for the team have included hosting a
Super Bowl party for players and coaches and sending limos
to players' houses to take them to Reunion Arena for a game
when an ice storm hit Dallas. Former Owner Ross Perot Jr.
said that he will attend the All-Star Game in Oakland this
weekend with Cuban "so he can personally introduce him to
all of the NBA owners" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/10).
BLONDE AMBITION: Meanwhile, Dennis Rodman made his
debut with the Mavs last night against the Sonics in front
of sellout crowd of 18,203 at Reunion Arena. The game
marked the second sellout of the season for the Mavs and the
largest home crowd since a '98 game against the Bulls (FT.
WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/10). The crowd was "more than" 4,000
larger than the team's season average (DALLAS MORNING NEWS,
2/10). With Rodman's pro-rated salary of $452,941, the team
needs "to draw only 300 extra fans a game for the investment
to pay off" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/10). With Rodman's debut,
the Mavs issued around 100 more media credentials than
normal, including some to journalists from as far away as
Germany and England (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/10). Before the
game, blue and green road jerseys of Rodman's No. 70, which
cost $43, "were rushed" to the arena's concession stands.
But T-shirts were not yet available (AP, 2/9). Rodman, on
facing the pressure of returning to the NBA: "I've already
had pressure. I was married once." Mavs announcer Jim
Durham: "When the Mavericks talk about having rings in their
future, I don't think they had those [ear, nose, lip, etc.]
in mind" ("Sonics-Mavs," Fox Sports Net, 2/9). NEWSDAY's
Shaun Powell writes that with Rodman, "[NBA Commissioner]
David Stern's worst nightmare is back, promising much of the
same foolishness as before." Powell also writes that Cuban
is "dangerous. He's Rodman in a suit, and don't think the
NBA isn't nervous about him" (NEWSDAY, 2/10).
