It’s no secret that Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki and team owner Mark Cuban have grown to be very good friends throughout their almost two-decade partnership with the Mavericks.
Together, they experienced many heartaches in failed post-season campaigns in the 2000s. Both of them also shared the triumph of finally reaching the mountaintop together in 2011, as the Mavericks won their first championship in franchise history. They have definitely been through many ups and downs throughout their time with each other.
Thus, it’s safe to say that these guys are very comfortable in saying whatever they want each other.
ESPN senior writer Zach Lowe recently shared on his podcast an interesting incident that happened between the two in the 2010-11 season:
“There’s a lot about Cuban in the book and how the players learn to tune out when he’s yelling at them during the games. And another moment from that season … they screw up a possession … Dirk inbounds the ball and Cuban’s yelling at Dirk because because he had just made a mistake or something happened.
And apparently everyone on the team remembers this: Dirk passed the ball back into play with one hand and as he pulled out his mouth guard with the other hand he shouted, “Shut the f–k up!” at Cuban.”
Lowe had invited author Ian Thomsen, where they talked about his book “The Soul of Basketball”, which provided an in-depth look into the 2010-11 season, the year the Mavericks upset the Miami Heat and their infamous big three in the NBA Finals.
It’s amazing how the 2011 NBA Finals MVP can clap back like this to his boss in Cuban, and get away with it. It’s also amazing to see that Cuban lets Dirk do this.
Cuban knows that Dirk is the face of the franchise. It shows the level of trust that the Shark Tank billionaire has in his 7-foot German superstar.
As a basketball fan, it’s great to actually get to know these little, behind-the-scenes excerpts from one of the NBA’s all-time great international players, and how these were actually instrumental in their improbable title run in 2011.
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