The Dallas Mavericks have seen their franchise turn for the worst over the last few years, with the infamous Luka Doncic trade at the forefront of it all. A lot of this, however, goes back to the sale of the Mavs.
In December 2023, the NBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the Dallas Mavericks to the Las Vegas Sands Corporation led by Miriam Adelson, Patrick Dumont, and his wife Sivan Dumont.
Mark Cuban, who reportedly sold 73 percent of his stake in the Mavericks and left 27 percent to himself, received between $3.8 and $3.9 billion in the deal, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Since the sale, however, the Mavs' hiring of Nico Harrison and the inexplicable trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers have been two of the most disastrous moves in recent memory that have set the franchise back quite some time.
Mark Cuban has not been shy in speaking out about the firing of Harrison, regretting his hiring, and how the Doncic trade went down. In a new, recent podcast episode snippet, however, Cuban says he regrets who he sold the majority stake of his franchise to.
“I don't regret selling,” Cuban told Intersections Podcast. “I regret who I sold to. Yeah, I made a lot of mistakes in the process and I'll leave it at that.”
Cuban added that he didn't want his children involved in the Mavericks given what he's been able to see as an owner since 2000.
“It's a big emotional commitment, right?” Cuban added. “You hear the passion and everything. Now imagine going up and down like that every single game. That's hard. To my kids, they were coming of the age where they would be of the mindset maybe they want to work at the Mavs and I didn't want that for them. It can be abusive, a lot.
“Meaning, if fans don't like what you're doing or the team's not doing well, you're the worst human being on the planet and they treat you that way.”
The Mavs, who had seen four winning seasons in five years prior to the 2024-25 season, have a record of 37-70 in 107 games since trading Luka Doncic on February 2nd, 2025. Doncic, a 25-year old superstar at the time, was traded for a 32-year old Anthony Davis with Max Christie and only one first round pick in one of the worst and arguably most controversial trade in NBA history. The Lakers have a record of 70-39 since the trade.
Davis played just 29 of a possible 74 games with the Mavs as he often dealt with injuries.
The Mavericks were able to miraculously land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft and used it to select highly touted Duke star Cooper Flagg, which has certainly helped accelerate their timeline, but doesn't make up for losing a franchise superstar like Doncic.
Doncic, meanwhile, continues to set records with the Los Angeles Lakers and is having arguably the best season of his NBA career averaging 33.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per game for the purple and gold.
