Imagine owning an NBA team for over two decades, only to unexpectedly sell the majority of your shares. To many individuals, Mark Cuban is the joyful, yet savvy investor who has made the dreams of several entrepreneurs a reality through ‘Shark Tank’. To NBA fans, however, he is also the sports enthusiast who was the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks for over 23 years. However, he recently lost that title after selling a majority of his shares back in late December. As a minority owner, he continues to share a bond with several members of the basketball fraternity, even if he may have ‘pissed’ them off at one point in time. A primary example of this is Draymond Green, the ‘villain player’ of the Golden State Warriors.

During a recent episode of his podcast, Green highlighted his friendship with Mark Cuban, revealing that he “fuc***g love Mark”, and calling him out to be a “great person”. This even allowed the Warriors star to invite the Mavericks minority owner a couple of times on his podcast. However, there was one incident, mentioned in barely a sentence, when the billionaire ticked off the player.

“Mark really pissed me off when he test my…. when he said I don’t know business, and told me I need to go to Kelly Business School” Green revealed.

The incident highlighted by the power forward took place back in 2017 when he and Cuban were not on such friendly grounds. Green made headlines after responding to a comment made by Houston Texans ‘owner’ Bob McNair by stating “For starters, let’s stop using the word owner and maybe use the word Chairman. To be owned by someone just sets a bad precedent to start”. During an interview with ESPN, the then Mavericks majority owner took offense at the fact that team owners cannot be referred to by the respective term after having worked hard to get to where they are. He even went so far as to state that Green owes the NBA an apology.

“To try to turn it into something that it’s not is ridiculous,” said Cuban. “Draymond can trash-talk on the court, but when he comes into our world, it doesn’t fly. I guess it’s because he went to Michigan State and didn’t take any business classes, but you own equity. When you own a team, you own equity, shares of stock. That’s called ownership. Tell him if he wants to take classes at Indiana’s business school, I’ll even pay for his classes and we’ll help him learn that stuff.”

Draymond Green is certainly not someone to forget that kind of negative remark made towards him. Furthermore, looking at how he continues to hold a feud with rival player Rudy Gobert, he is not someone who lets go of old grudges easily. However, to his and Cuban’s credit, both individuals resolved their issues and continue to hold a friendship based on mutual respect.

Draymond Green believes will not be satisfied with the Dallas Mavericks recent performance

The Dallas Mavericks had one of their most successful runs during the recent NBA season. Under the leadership of Slovenian player Luka Doncic, the franchise was able to secure a 50-32 record during the regular season, defeated the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, and reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years. However, Draymond Green believes that even going this far would not have been enough to appeal to the billionaire.

“I know Nico (Harrison) and Mark, like those guys go after it” said the Warriors star. “And so, they’re never going to be satisfied with making it to the NBA Finals. Mark Cuban has become who’s he become because he just presses, presses, presses…. I have no doubt that he is not about to double down, like whatever he feels needs to be that next move, him and Nico, he’ll make it”.

Green’s remarks come after it was revealed that the new majority owner recently removed Mark Cuban from having control of basketball operations. However, while this means that the billionaire won’t have a final say in the trades, draft selections, or free agency signings, he will still have a voice in the roster decisions. Therefore, having come so close to the Finals, he will be looking to improve the team so that the Larry O’Brien trophy will have the name of the Dallas Mavericks on it next season.

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about WNBA star rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.