A new controversy erupted over the weekend, when Dallas Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban fired back at Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green’s call to end the use of the word team “owner” in sports. Green took to Instagram after Houston Texans team owner Bob McNair said the NFL “can’t have inmates running the asylum” during league meetings in New York.
“For starters, let’s stop using the word ‘owner’ and maybe use the word ‘Chairman’,” Green wrote. “To be owned by someone just sets a bad precedent to start. It sets the wrong tone. It gives one the wrong mindset.”
Cuban took exception to Green’s comments, saying the star forward should apologize.
“For him to try to turn it into something it’s not is wrong,” Cuban told ESPN. “He owes the NBA an apology. I think he does, because to try to create some connotation that owning equity in a company that you busted your ass for is the equivalent of ownership in terms of people, that’s just wrong. That’s just wrong in every which way.”
As two of the most outspoken figures in the NBA, it’s likely this verbal back-and-forth is just beginning. Cuban, an Indiana University graduate, ended his response to Green’s comments with a gratuitous shot at the former Michigan State standout’s university.
“I guess it’s because he went to Michigan State and didn’t take any business classes, but you own equity,” Cuban said. “When you own a team, you own equity, shares of stock. That’s called ownership. Tell him if he wants to take classes at Indiana’s business school, I’ll even pay for his classes and we’ll help him learn that stuff.”
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