Mark Cuban says things are personal with Houston Rockets
By Bryan Rose
Love him or hate him, it’s hard to disagree that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban isn’t good for the NBA. Sure, he can be a bit of a loudmouth at times and ruffle feathers, but he always has the best interest of the league at heart.
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His competitive spirit is also a nice change and while occasionally irritating, nobody will ever suggest Mark Cuban lacks passion.
Case in point, his most recent comments regarding the Houston Rockets and their general manager Daryl Morey. Dallas of course signed away Houston forward Chandler Parsons this offseason, making an already intense rivalry step up another notch.
That only grew with a war of words between players which has trickled over to Cuban.
“Oh, all good business is personal. Trust me, there’s nobody more competitive than me,” Cuban said. “Every bit of me wanted to kick his ass and I would have felt bad. Obviously they got Dwight [Howard] a couple of years ago. Yeah, I wanted to beat him. And that’s a compliment to him. Daryl is very smart. It was very much like a game of chess.”
The Houston Rockets of course also made a trade inquiry for longtime Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki this offseason, which originally upset Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks as the moved was alleged to be ‘taunting’.
All that said, Mark Cuban says he doesn’t believe the Houston Rockets are the the Dallas Mavericks biggest rival. He gives that honor to the San Antonio Spurs, as he should, since both have been among the better franchises in the Western Conference for the past decade plus.