First off, Marcel Mutoni had me answer a few questions as part of a Mavs preview for SLAM Magazine. You can see that online here.
There's a question in there about Mark Cuban's 'antics', and the timing is appropriate since he's been in the new lately. Not just because of the Don Nelson battle, but because of the "Cuban Rule" which the board of governors passed yesterday. The goal of the rule - to control the courtside behavior of NBA owners. The punishment connected to the rule and the rules themselves haven't yet been disclosed, but Mark Cuban isn't happy about it.
"The owners who speak out the most against me have been the first organizations to ask me to support their marketing or sales efforts," Cuban said. "The league execs who chastise me or fine me have never hesitated to leverage me when it was to their advantage or to have their personnel tell me that they love what I'm doing, but could never contradict the league publicly or privately. So I'm a needed voice for them."
"The 'code of conduct' has no description or definition, so it's hard to respond to," Cuban said. "But the intent was to suggest that some owners don't like the way I do business, something they remind me of collectively every year but forget individually when they ask for something for the league or their teams."
Cuban is clearly pretty pissed off about all of this and has backed out of planned Sirius Radio show which he says he only agreed to do as a favor to the NBA. I'll have more to say about it when the details of the rule are released later this week, but my first reaction was that it's a pretty weak use of time by the board."The 'code of conduct' has no description or definition, so it's hard to respond to," Cuban said. "But the intent was to suggest that some owners don't like the way I do business, something they remind me of collectively every year but forget individually when they ask for something for the league or their teams."
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There is an explosion of articles at the Star-Telegram today, here's a quick rundown.
Daily 'Training Camp' article - interview with Popeye Jones and Avery jokes that Barea made the team so he wouldn't be the shortest.
Art Garcia takes a look at the schedule.
Dwain Price takes a brief look at the most recent championship teams.
Garcia has another article with tons of quotes from Mavs players about how they believe they can get back to the NBA Finals again this season.
And Garcia again has a very good and lengthy Q&A with Dirk.
Q: As the team's most important piece, how do you expand your role?
A: "My role is going to be more getting guys open shots, getting everybody involved. Hopefully be tough defensively and be effective there and help the team wherever I can. Rebounding is always a key for me. Be involved in the rebound game. It's a little bit of everything. Help my teammates get open. Set some picks if the opponents are hugging me. More than anything, try to make something happen for my teammates and for me, but still be aggressive offensively. We'll see how it works."
--------------------A: "My role is going to be more getting guys open shots, getting everybody involved. Hopefully be tough defensively and be effective there and help the team wherever I can. Rebounding is always a key for me. Be involved in the rebound game. It's a little bit of everything. Help my teammates get open. Set some picks if the opponents are hugging me. More than anything, try to make something happen for my teammates and for me, but still be aggressive offensively. We'll see how it works."
The NBA preview blog has wrapped up. Lowpost.net did a great job summarizing the preview and discovered that only only three bloggers predicted their team to have a losing record. Click that link for even more breakdowns on the predictions.
For a list of all the previews click "read more".
Pacific Division:
- Golden St. Warriors (presented by Golden State of Mind and lowpost.net)
- Los Angeles Clippers (Presented by Clipsnation)
- Los Angeles Lakers (Presented by Forum Blue & Gold, Showtime, and Jones on the NBA)
- Phoenix Suns (Presented by Phoenix Suns Rising and Suns Gossip)
- Sacramento Kings (Presented by Sactown Royalty)
Southeast Division:
- Miami Heat (presented by Crazy from the Heat)
- Washington Wizards (Presented by Bullets Fever)
- Orlando Magic (Presented by Believing in Magic)
- Charlotte Bobcats (Presented by Bobcat Bonfire)
- Atlanta Hawks (Presented by Impending Firestorm)
Northwest Division:
- Denver Nuggets (presented by The Nugg Doctor)
- Seattle Supersonics (Presented by Sonics Central)
- Utah Jazz (Presented by LowPost.net)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (Presented by I Heart KG)
- Portland Trailblazers (Presented by True Hoop)
Central Division:
- Cleveland Cavaliers (presented by YAY!Sports)
- Chicago Bulls (Presented by Blog-a-Bull)
- Detroit Pistons (Presented by Detroit Bad Boys and Need4Sheed)
- Milwaukee Bucks (Presented by Five Point Bucks)
- Indiana Pacers (Presented by Donning Craig Sager's Suit)
Southwest Division:
- Dallas Mavericks (Presented by Mavs Moneyball)
- San Antonio Spurs (Presented by Pounding the Rock)
- New Orleans Hornets (Presented by yours truly)
- Memphis Grizzlies (Presented by Beale Street Beat)
- Houston Rockets (Presented by Rockets Blast)
Atlantic Division:
- New Jersey Nets (Presented by Nets Daily)
- Philadelphia 76ers (Presented by Passion & Pride)
- Boston Celtics (Presented by CelticsBlog, Celtics17 & CelticsStuff Live and LOY's Place)
- Toronto Raptors (Presented by Hoops Addict)
- New York Knicks (Presented by Bench Renaldo)