Henry has the story of how Mark Cuban chastised J.R. Smith during last night's Nuggets-Mavericks game. Apparently Smith and Mavs forward Antoine Wright got into it and Smith threw an elbow. Henry descibes the rest:
Mark Cuban decided that he had to be the one to straighten out that situation. So he walked over to Smith and told him that the elbow was not OK, and that he'd be sending the tape to the League in the hopes that Smith would be sanctioned.
Nothing serious came of the incident and Smith appeared to take it in good humor.
Here's my question though. Fans are not allowed to approach the bench or escalate situations with the players since the Pistons-Pacers brawl. Players themselves are not allowed to leave the bench during an altercation. Why is Mark Cuban allowed to mess with an opponent's bench in the middle of a game? Lets say Smith isn't in a good mood. Lets say that elbowing was the result of bad blood simmering over and Smith was on a hair trigger. Then here comes Cuban with his famous snotty-faced look jawing at him about how his behavior is unacceptable and he's going to take it to the league. What possibilities do you think could come from that? How about a haymaker right upside Cuban's head followed by a brawl every bit as bad as the one in Detroit?
Mark Cuban's behavior is ridiculous. He's online. He has a blog. Cut and paste this. Tell him I said so. I don't care. Seriously...somebody needs to curb this behavior because he keeps skirting the line, acting like he's above all of the strictures that apply to fans, players, league officials, you name it. Those restrictions are there for a reason. One of these days he's going to do the wrong thing at the wrong time and his actions are going to have consequences beyond the merely annoying.
An owner approaching the opposing team at any time during a game--in-game, halftime, timeout--is way over the line. Were I the opposing coach I would tell him to get the hell away from my players, now. When Cuban brings his complaint to the league the office should take the material, file it away, and say, "Now sit down, Mark. We have something else to talk about..."
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)