Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban on Friday night "forced" Bleacher Report to "delete a social media post that offended him," according to Anthony Barstow of the N.Y. POST. Bleacher Report "posted a video on Twitter" showing Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki "putting up an air-ball on a 3-point attempt with the sarcastic caption, 'Dirk Forever.'" This "set Cuban off, and he went straight to the top, firing off an angry email" to Turner President David Levy. Cuban also "tweeted at Bleacher Report with the message 'Delete your account' and posted a series of emails between him and Levy." In the emails, Cuban "demands an immediate apology and asks to know who at Bleacher Report thought the post was 'remotely acceptable.'" Bleacher Report "backed down and within 20 minutes of Cuban showing he had emailed their boss, the site deleted the offending tweet" (N.Y. POST, 2/26).
GOING DOWN A SLIPPERY SLOPE: SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote, "I understand and respect Cuban sticking up for his guy ... but there’s a larger principle at play here." By "letting league partners dictate your content -- Turner Sports is a rights-holder partner with the NBA -- you are going down a very dangerous road that often ends up in Propogandaville." Deitsch: "What’s to prevent another NBA owner from threatening B/R Magazine on more substantive items?" (SI.com, 2/26). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Michael David Smith wrote if Bleacher Report "had any integrity, Levy would have told Cuban that independent media outlets don’t take orders from the people they cover." This "raises some ugly questions about Bleacher Report." Smith: "We know about this time. ... What we don’t know is this: How many other times has Bleacher Report quietly backed down to owners or leagues?" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 2/27). Fox Sports' Clay Travis tweeted Levy "should apologize to everyone @BleacherReport today for his response to @mcuban Tweet. Pathetic" (TWITTER.com, 2/27).
