Mark Cuban Critical of Absentee NBA Owners

When asked about Mikhail Prokhorov not being around his Brooklyn Nets, Mark Cuban was only too happy to take a few jabs at the absentee big man. Cuban thinks it’s bad business for an NBA team owner not to be present. Per the Star-Ledger:

Without naming names, of course: Can you run an NBA franchise from 5,000 miles away?

The Dallas owner replied, flatly, “Absolutely not.”

“Again, hypothetically speaking – and this only applies to individuals 6-5 and under – you can’t,” Cuban said, at a tempo the orchestra conductor would call accelerando. “That’s why I sit so close (to the floor): It’s like trying to run a company and not being able to go to the sales meetings. Not being able to go to the customer service or support meetings.

“You know, the reason why you’re starting to see more and more owners get closer and closer (is because) culture is important, attitude is important, communication is important …”

“It may well be that you have all those people who can do all those things for you, but I just happen to think that if an owner has the skill set where they can add value, they should,” Cuban said before his Mavericks took a 107-106 shave at Barclays. “If they have someone who can do it for them, that’s fine, but I just think (distance) makes it much more difficult. But again, that’s for the 6-4 and under league.”