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To understand the friendship between Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and forward Chandler Parsons is to let go of every pre-conceived notion of owner-to-player or boss-to-employee relationship one has become familiar with.
The two were close, very close — a rarity for a player who at the time had only spent two years with the franchise.
After suffering a 4-1 loss to a potent Oklahoma City Thunder, Cuban and Parsons had a few drinks at a nightclub in which they kid each other to what kind of contract he would get during the summer.
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Cuban threw out low-ball offers for the sake of humor, but Parsons got the last laugh, getting in a cab at the end of the night and yelling “Max or nothing, m*****f*****!” as the driver drove away from the club.
The 6-foot-10 forward got to enjoy a few benefits of being the owner's pal, to have a say in personnel decisions. Parsons was the one who suggested letting go of shooting guard Monta Ellis, who had ruffled a few feathers with the organization. It was him who proposed getting Wesley Matthews, a three-and-D style swingman and it was him who brought up the idea of bringing DeAndre Jordan into the fold.
We all know how that story ended up. Despite Jordan's reversal of shame, Parsons and Cuban discussed him possibly having a role in the Mavs' front office one day.
I am humbled by @DallasMavs & @MCuban kindness and understanding. I am sorry to have a change of heart.
— DeAndre Jordan 🐺 (@DeAndre) July 11, 2015
Things took a sour turn when the Florida alum tore the meniscus in his right knee, soon learning he'd need surgery to continue playing. Through the whole process, Parsons felt he'd still be a Maverick and things would continue where they were once he had recovered and was able to play again.
“As much as it hurt to see my season cut short,” Parsons told ESPN's Tim MacMahon, “I knew it wasn't career-ending and I knew financially I was going to be taken care of by Mark.”
Cuban ended up signing free agent forward Harrison Barnes to a max deal and letting Parsons go because of not only his injury concerns, but by advice of the people around him that told him he could be too influenced by his decisions.
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“Throughout the whole process going into free agency, I always thought Dallas was going to be the place,” Parsons says. “I thought we had a mutual understanding that I was going to be there for the whole time and I was going to retire a Mav. Obviously, the second surgery gave him a little doubt, and I believe some people got in his head about it.”
“The main reason why I went to Dallas was because I had an owner that was my boy and who believed in me,” Parsons says. “That's an awesome combination to have. As my years went on there, I think there was a huge jealousy factor of how cool I was with him, how I had some power and input in decisions that they make. I think that hurt some people's feelings. I think that made them jealous.
“Looking from the outside looking in, I could see how that could rub people the wrong way. My relationship with him — like, we were so cool, we were so close, I had his ear on a lot of decisions — I think that ended up biting me in the ass at the end.”
Cuban had planned for Parsons to opt in on the last year of his deal, which would pay him $6 million shy of what a max offer would — if he were to show minimal to no injury concerns during the 2016-17 season, they would revisit talks of a max extension at the end of the season.
The pitch was one that Parsons considered “pretty ludicrous,” even borderline disrespectful. Failing to even remotely consider it.
“Obviously that sounds nice, but why risk it? My concern is the same as them. You're worried about paying my knee,” Parsons says. “You don't want to pay me long term. These other really, really good teams do. If it's too much of a risk for them to pay me for four years, it's way too much of a risk for me to turn down guaranteed $94 million right now. It would make no sense, and no fan, no human, no one in the right mind would not do what I did.”
Soon enough, Parsons' texts and calls to Cuban began to go unreturned, and when he did return them, the responses were unusually vague.
“That was the weirdest part to me,” Parsons says. “How DeAndre was kind of starting to get shady and ignore Mark's calls, that's kind of like what Mark started doing to me. So it was like, ‘Damn, you know what? I get it. We're going through negotiations. I know free agency can be tough sometimes, but at the end of the day, you're my friend.' ”
“I was being avoided. I was being pushed out. I was being ignored. So awkward.”
By the time free agency had arrived on July 1, Parsons was courted by Portland and Memphis, ultimately signing with the Grizzlies on the spot.
“It was just kind of shocking,” added Parsons.
The two still remain on friendly terms, but admit it came down to making a business decision. Parsons kept his communication with Cuban limited for the next few months after signing with the Grizzlies, but later received a dinner invitation, in which him and his former boss settled all hard feelings.
“It doesn't bother me, because I would have the same issues,” Parsons says. “If you ask me about a player, I'm going to give you my honest opinion. I don't care if it's one of my good friends or not. As a businessman, I'm going to be honest and be truthful about what the situation is.”
Unsure of when or in what role, Cuban assured his boy Parsons would be back in Dallas some day.
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