Column: Clippers win over Mavericks, and Mark Cuban is still a crybaby
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban listens to a referee during a timeout at the Staples Center on Thursday night.
The Clippers’ home opener tripped the light fantastic Thursday night, setting Figueroa ablaze with flashing bracelets, darting lasers, flaming backboards, and exploding introductions.
None of which was bright enough to overshadow blazing crybaby Mark Cuban.
The Clippers soared, Cuban whined. DeAndre Jordan dominated, Cuban wept.
By the time the Staples Center smackdown ended, the Clippers were 104-88 victors over the roster-empty Dallas Mavericks, while Mavericks owner Cuban was as full of it as his tight white T-shirt.
“I just don’t give a s— about the Clippers,” Cuban said before the game while standing in front of the Mavericks’ bench.
Wah, wah, wah.
“Look, the Clippers are the Clippers,” Cuban said. “You can change the players, you can change the owner, but the Clippers are just who they’ve been for the last 30 years.”
Sniffle, sniffle.
Among many differences in these Clippers is the one that turned Cuban so mopey. These Clippers had the stature and sense to retain free-agent Jordan last summer even after Jordan verbally committed to the Mavericks.
Yeah, that’s why Cuban is still so mad. One of America’s best businessmen fell asleep at the switch after shaking hands with his prize acquisition, giving the mercurial Jordan all the space he needed to change his mind, which occurred during that infamous emoji-dominated swarming of Clippers folks to his Houston home.
Cuban immediately ripped Jordan for not apologizing or explaining. Cuban is still feeling so bad about it, he showed up Thursday still loaded for Clipper, making for a much better fight than the one put up by his overmatched team which, um, er, could have really used the DeAndre Jordan that it lost.
“There’s some comedy involved in it all, I’ve appreciated all of comic efforts of him and Doc,” said Cuban.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers certainly appreciated the comedy in Cuban’s comments, and late Thursday laughed about Cuban’s charge that the Clippers are still the Clippers.
“That’s so hurtful, I don’t know what to do,” Rivers said with a fake crying voice. “Listen, we are the Clippers, that’s my answer.”
It was Rivers who vehemently defended Jordan’s right to change his mind, and it was Rivers who kept defending it during his own pregame news conference.
“I’ve always thought, you’re a free agent … what part of ‘free’ don’t we all get in this room?” Rivers said. “He plays himself into fee agency ... once they’re free, it’s not ‘agency,’ it’s ‘free.’”
Rivers properly noted that Jordan not only had the right to change his mind, but that teams change their minds on players all the time.
“I don’t see teams apologizing when they cut players … trade players … sign players to a long-term deal and trade them by December … that’s because it’s their right to get it right,” Rivers said. “I always thought the same thing for a player ... he has one job, and that’s to get it right.”
The feeling here is that Jordan was completely within his rights to change his mind, but that he blew it by not calling Cuban personally with his change of heart, failing to show proper respect to a guy who had just committed more than $80 million to him.
That’s the only part of Cuban’s argument which is legitimate, and a part which Cuban brought up again Thursday.
“Haven’t said a word to him, haven’t heard a word from him,” Cuban said of Jordan. “If it wasn’t going to happen right around then, there’s no reason for it to happen now.”
Everything else Cuban said was just silly. He needs to get over it. By attempting to diminish the Clippers, he is only diminishing himself while calling attention to his failure to close one of the biggest basketball deals of his life.
“It’s just another game, it’s just another team,” Cuban said of the Clippers. “It’s not as much fun as picking on San Antonio. It’s not as much fun as picking on the Rockets. They’re still the Clippers.”
Jordan obviously didn’t approach it like just another game. He came out flying. He blocked the first Mavericks shot. He grabbed the first defensive rebound. And he hounded Dirk Nowitzki so much that late in the first half, the two men tangled under the rim amid elbows and shoves. Jordan finished with 15 rebounds and four blocks while making both of his shots and helping hold the Mavericks to 36% shooting. A smattering of the crowd ended the game by chanting, “D-J, D-J, D-J!”
Jordan said he wouldn’t revisit last summer, and claimed this game was not a reflection of those events, but few were buying it.
“The emotions were high because it was our home opener, we wanted to come out and show everyone what we had been working on,” he said. “It was just another Western Conference team we wanted to beat.”
Early in the game, the Clippers’ game production folks did a good job of defusing the situation by showing Cuban and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer together on the giant video board in a Kiss Cam split screen, turning potential jeers into laughter, but the narrative hung low over everything.
As for the rest of the Clippers’ new in-game show, their only big mistake was the Clipper Spirit opening the game by dancing to “Proud Mary” by Ike and Tina Turner. Hello? For years, that was the opening song for the Laker Girls. Just saying.
Now the Clippers-Mavericks drama moves to Dallas for a Nov. 11 game that will be far crazier than Thursday’s battle. Jordan will be booed like he’s never been booed before. The Clippers will be challenged physically like few have challenged them before. It will be great drama, and maybe even the Mavericks owner can watch it. Maybe by then, Mark Cuban will have dried his eyes.
Twitter: @billplaschke
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