Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said the team has had a "couple of cancellations" of season tickets due to his support of NFL players protesting during the national anthem, though he said "just as many if not more people" have bought tickets, according to Mac Engel of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. He said, "I don’t think it impacted (us). I don’t think it’s as important as the media makes it sound." Cuban: "All you need to know, if you want to know how important (standing for the national anthem) is to people, just walk through the concourse of a game when the national anthem is playing. The whole place doesn’t stop. People get their hot dogs. I’m not saying nobody does. ... People don’t rush to get to their seats for the national anthem." Engel notes Cuban has been outspoken against President Trump and has hinted he may run for President in '20. He said, "I just don’t like the way things are going. ... People say to me, 'Do your job -- stay out of all of this.' If he just did his job, I might disagree with some of his stuff, but at least I wouldn’t be worried about something he tweeted causing somebody to drop a bomb. Talk about, 'Do your job and stick to sports,' talk about 'Do your job' and we might think he’s a good president" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 10/17).
POPOVICH BLASTS TRUMP AGAIN: THE NATION's Dave Zirin noted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called him after hearing Trump's remarks yesterday "explaining why he hadn’t mentioned the four US soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger." Trump said, "President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it." Popovich told Zirin, “I want to say something, and please just let me talk, and please make sure this is on the record." Popovich: "This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. ... We have a pathological liar in the White House, unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office, and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this president should be ashamed, because they know better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all" (THENATION.com, 10/16). NBA writer Sean Highkin posted on Twitter, "Worth noting in light of Popovich’s comments that the Holt family are major Trump donors. They don’t censor him. Doesn’t have to be like NFL" (TWITTER.com, 10/16).
DOLAN DONATES TO TRUMP'S RE-ELECTION: In Newark, Jonathan Salant reports five days after Trump told the Warriors that they "weren't welcome at the White House," Knicks Owner James Dolan "sent a $125,000 check to help his re-election efforts." Dolan "contributed the money to the joint fundraising committee set up by Trump and the Republican National Committee" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/17).
