Mark Cuban says Russell Westbrook, Draymond Green don't pass his superstar test

By Mark Cuban's definition, five-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA team Russell Westbrook isn't a superstar.

"I think he's an All-Star but not a superstar," Cuban said. Asked later on about Draymond Green, Cuban also said he wasn't a superstar by his standards.

"The way I define a superstar is who do you want the ball in the hands of at the end of a game when you need a bucket," Cuban said. "Who do you know that can get off that shot, make that shot and that's your superstar."

Cuban continued giving his example using long-time Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki as a frame of reference: "Russ is certainly an all star, but I consider Durant a superstar. You look at Dirk, all his years to now, he carries teams to 50 wins. That's the sign of a superstar."

Last year, Westbrook did most of the heavy lifting for the Thunder as Durant played less than a third of the season. Oklahoma City won 45 games but fell just shy of the playoffs, losing out to the New Orleans Pelicans.

"Dirk for 15 years won 50 games no matter what. We put Mo, Larry and curly next to him and he won 50 games," Cuban said, praising Nowitzki's efforts at the expense of a small indictment of his own general managerial skills.

Cuban said very few teams, if any, had two superstars, saying Kyrie Irving and Green both failed his test.

"Kyrie's not there yet," Cuban said. "I think Draymond's an All-Star and I think he's really, really, really, really good, I think he's multi-faceted, but I wouldn't call him a superstar yet. You're not going to put Draymond on a bad team and watch him win 50 games. Draymond, he makes all the players around him better, but I don't think he goes anywhere in the league and wins 50 games."

Cuban's take is questionable, even though he said he "didn't think it was all the hot (of a take)," but it really comes down to his definition of a superstar. It's not exactly surprising that his definition is biased by Nowitzki, the player who has meant everything to Dallas' franchise since being drafted.

"Dirk in his prime, put him on any team, and they win 50 games," Cuban said. If nothing else, he's not wrong about that.