Mark Cuban Nearly Sold the Dallas Mavericks in 2006

So was incensed by the officiating following the 2006 NBA Finals, which the Miami Heat won over the Dallas Mavericks in controversial fashion, that owner Mark Cuban seriously considered selling the team. He continues to be frustrated by the refs, but Cuban isn’t planning on letting go of his team anytime soon. Per the Star-Telegram: “Asked before Saturday’s game against New Orleans how long he hopes to keep the Mavs, Cuban said, ‘Hopefully my kids and their kids [will own the team]. I always said unless something about the game drove me nuts, or the league, I would stick it out.’ In the 2006 NBA Finals, when the Miami Heat rallied from an 0-2 hole to beat the Mavs in six games, Cuban was so disgusted with the officiating in that series that he was ready to turn in his NBA ownership. ‘We put out feelers,’ Cuban said. ‘I was really questioning the integrity of the game. After 2006, I was probably ready to sell. But I took some time off.’ Friday marked the 13th anniversary since Cuban reached an agreement to purchase the Mavs from Ross Perot Jr. on Jan., 4, 2000, for a whopping $285 million. Cuban admits to badly overpaying for a franchise that was one of the worst in professional sports during the 1990s, and one that NBA commissioner David Stern likely urged Perot to sell to increase the value of other franchises across the NBA. ‘That’s why they let me in,’ Cuban said. ‘Stern was like, ‘Are you kidding? How can you turn down that much money?’ Cuban, who just returned from a 10-day family vacation in the Cayman Islands, said former Mavs All-Star forward Mark Aguirre was the person who set the wheels in motion for him to buy the Mavs. ‘I went to Mark Aguirre and he introduced me to Perot’s people, and that’s how the whole thing happened,’ Cuban said. ‘[Perot] knew I was paying too much, and he wasn’t dumb enough to say no.'”