Mark Cuban serves it up at Dairy Queen
Scot Kojola, MBA1/MAAS
Issue date: 1/21/02 Section: Sports
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On Tuesday, January 8, 2002, the NBA assessed a league-record $500,000 fine against Mark Cuban for his recent remarks regarding referees. In a story published in The Dallas Morning News, Cuban was quoted, “Ed Rush (head of officiating) might have been a great ref, but I wouldn’t hire him to manage a Dairy Queen. His interest is not in the integrity of the game or improving the officiating.”
This fine is the latest in a string of incidents between Cuban and the NBA. Last year, he was fined seven times for a total of $505,000. Most of the violations that prompted these fines were also related to comments about officials.
Cuban summarizes his view, “The fact of the matter is the NBA is more about power than it is about getting the best possible product or even protecting its players.” In an email to ESPN, he states, “There is definitely a premium on playing politics over smart business. Call it the Enron way. It’s far easier to fine me than address the problems and, unfortunately, whether I ask the questions publicly or privately, the NBA doesn’t care enough about its players or customers to do something.”
Cuban has taken it upon himself to do something about the lack of consistency (i.e. quality) among NBA officials. In December, he hired a “statistics expert” to track referees during every Mavericks game. Cuban believes that referees are calling fewer fouls. “The players and coaches know it, so they are more aggressive. My guess is that someone is going to get hurt as a result. If we just enforced the rules as they are… we would have a much better game. Refs miss calls. It’s not one call that was the issue. It’s when there are inconsistencies throughout the game that creates problems.
Basketball as a Business
After arriving at the Coppell, TX store at 6:00AM, Mark spent the next two hours learning how to make the trademark swirl on the soft-serves cones and the thickest Blizzards around. Over 1000 people lined up, some waiting over two hours, to get served by Mark. The rush on the store was so big that it ran out of ice.
