Hoops Habit
Fansided

Mark Cuban Joins The Rest of the NBA In Hating The Clippers

By Cameron Stewart

Oct 21, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the stands during the second half of a game against the Phoenix Suns at American Airlines Center. Phoenix won 99-87. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 21, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the stands during the second half of a game against the Phoenix Suns at American Airlines Center. Phoenix won 99-87. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Dallas Mavericks owner and eccentric billionaire Mark Cuban does not like the Los Angeles Clippers. Not one bit. Consistent with his personality, Cuban did not hold back any punches when letting the media know how he feels about the Clippers.

Cuban is not alone in his dislike of the Clippers as many other players, coaches, and teams do not like the Clippers for an assortment of reasons. Nobody has a more legitimate reason behind his dislike of the Clippers than Cuban after the DeAndre Jordan fiasco in free agency. Jordan told the Mavericks franchise that he intended to sign there and the team had agreed on a contract.

The only thing delaying the contract from being official was that it happened during the NBA’s moratorium on free agents, where teams are allowed to talk to free agents, but no deals can be made. Jordan reneged on his deal with the Mavericks and returned to Los Angeles after talking to various members of the team, an emoji war  broke out, and the Clippers made it seem like they were keeping Jordan hostage until he signed with them.

The Mavericks had the prettiest girl at the bar until her ex walked in and stole her away from them.

Although the Clippers had not broken any NBA rules, some believe that they broke an unwritten code. You can believe that Cuban believes he was wronged, and he has every right to think that way. Not only did Jordan’s change of heart take away the rim protecting, rebounding prototype center to pair with Dirk Nowitzki, but Jordan made his final decision at a time where the Mavericks had no other real alternative solution.

LaMarcus Aldridge and many other marquee free agents had already found their suitors in free agency. The team did sign Wesley Matthews and also gave him the option of backing out on his word because he agreed to a contract under the assumption that Jordan would be joining him to keep the Mavericks contending for the title. Matthews stayed and was rewarded with more money for sticking with the team. After Matthews, the team’s major additions were Deron Williams and Zaza Pachulia.

The Mavericks are predicted by finish the season under .500 for the first time since 1999-2000. With injuries to Matthews, Chandler Parsons, and Deron Williams, Cuban’s Mavericks were beaten by 16 points in the Clippers home opener. The Mavericks were forced to start Raymond Felton, John Jenkins, and Jeremy Evans as a result of injuries. Evans and Jenkins combined have 14 starts in the NBA.

A part of the blame for the Mavericks’ thin roster can be traced back to July 9th, 2015, the day Jordan officially chose the Clippers over the Mavericks, ending the Mavericks hopes of contending for another title run. The veteran free agents who usually come to the Mavericks for a season or two to chase a ring were no longer considering Dallas and the team was forced to depend more on Wesley Matthews, who tore his Achilles in March while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.

More from LA Clippers

DeAndre Jordan, Doc Rivers, and the entire Clippers organization has been a thorn to Cuban’s Mavericks for the past few years as a conference rival, but that competitive fire between the two teams poured gasoline all over itself when Jordan changed his mind and the Clippers went all-in on bringing Jordan back after his unofficial signing had been reported.

Cuban won’t forget about Jordan and the Clippers anytime soon as it’s almost impossible to watch the Mavericks not be the 50-win team they have been for much of the past decade without thinking of how the team would be different with Jordan playing the Tyson Chandler role of making up for Dirk Nowitzki’s declining defense and making sure there are no easy buckets against the Mavericks.

The Clippers won the game easily last night behind another MVP-caliber performance from Blake Griffin, but the biggest story of the night was undoubtedly Cuban’s comments.

Next: NBA Power Rankings: Opening Week

More from Hoops Habit

Home/LA Clippers