The 2019 offseason has been one for the record books. In a surprising twist, several players around the NBA landscape have decided to join forces. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will be playing for the Brooklyn Nets, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have signed with the L.A. Clippers, and Anthony Davis has joined LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. All of these moves have led to a frenzy of media and fan attention — a fact that Mavs owner Mark Cuban says only serves to help the league.
“I think this summer, it really benefited the NBA,” Cuban told CBSSports.com in a recent interview. “We went from the Warriors being a dynasty to being wide open. The best way to judge that is our ticket sales. Last year, there were two teams that never played to an empty seat: whatever team LeBron (James) was on or playing, and the Warriors don't play to an empty seat anywhere in the league. Everybody else had to hustle to sell tickets. Now that's different.”
It's been a summer of duos. In previous years, several teams around the league tried their hands with various “Big 3's” on their roster. It was an effective strategy, to be sure, but Cuban believes this shift from that philosophy will allow teams around the NBA to sell more tickets:
“You're going to have two stars on a lot of different teams,” Cuban told CBS. “Now the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, Bucks and Rockets might be a draw. So you're going to have more teams that are able to sell more tickets and that's going to benefit the entire NBA.”
All things considered, Cuban is right. More teams will have star players on their rosters, which will in turn drive more revenue from fans and patrons.
For now, though, hoops fans will have to wait just a bit longer to see their favorite teams in action. The 2019-20 preseason kicks off on September 30 (Shanghai Sharks at Houston Rockets).
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