"… And as a capper, Harrison recently said publicly, “I did know that Luka was important to the fanbase, I didn’t quite know to what level.” Really? That’s not a credible thing for the GM of a major sports franchise to say.

For me, having led this city, I think this comes down to the importance of engaged and committed local ownership in our sports franchises. What I’ve seen since Patrick Dumont and the Adelson family took over the Mavs suggests a lack of interest in the basketball operations and this community. From where I sit, the priority is clear: use this asset to further the family’s casino business,

Dumont approved a trade that it’s hard to believe any local owner would have accepted; it gutted the team’s identity and shattered a deep bond with its fans. It was apathy or a lack of understanding about Luka and the Dallas fan base that gave Harrison the authority to carry out his trade plan — regardless of the damage done.

Absenteeism has cost Dallas dearly. Hopefully, our public officials will remember this when the prospect of gambling is next raised.

Mark Cuban, over his decades of ownership, brought a passion for basketball and commitment to our community. I can only wonder what his reaction is in hindsight to selling the team to out of town owners who haven’t reflected his commitment. There is no question it will affect his legacy.

Dallas fans deserve better than a front office more loyal to its industry contacts than its players. They deserve better than a billionaire owner more focused on lobbying for casino legislation than protecting the franchise.

Above all, they deserve accountability. Fans invest their time, their money and their belief in these teams. That investment deserves reciprocation. When you are the steward of a sports franchise, you are a steward of public trust.

This wasn’t just a bad trade. It was a betrayal and a violation of that trust. It should be hard to earn back."

Tom Leppert

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2025/05/09/former-dallas-mayor-the-luka-trade-is-going-to-hurt-for-a-long-time/

36 comments

  1. Never seen a sports trade get talked about like it was treason lmao

  2. Cuban deserves more blame for this as well. It’s funny because he was trying to garner sympathy and said recently how he “lost hundreds of millions of dollars” because he was keeping it affordable but at the same time he bought the team for $285m and sold it for 3.5b. This is not even considering the fact that he 99.9% leveraged the Mavs during his ownership for other business/financial opportunities.

    Also, the best thing about this whole thing with Cuban is him being a “business mogul” but agreeing to a handshake deal on a multibillion dollar transaction saying that he would still have control of basketball operations (after the NBA denied it from the contract). Isn’t one of the first things they teach people in business is to have it in writing? lmao

  4. So the two reasons for the trade from the owners perspective are either that they don’t care about basketball and Nico tricked them or they’re trying to suck to help with their gambling lobbying. Not a good look either way

  5. Why is Cuban getting a pass, he was greedy and sold a voting majority, shame on him.

  7. Dallas also deserves an owner who isn’t trying to legalize sports gambling.

  9. The funny thing is he did what we generally want owners to do, which is let the qualified people make the decisions. He’s not a basketball mind and, in theory, his GM is. 

  10. Even our biggest rivals/haters (San Antonio, Houston, OKC, Phoenix, etc.) have said the same thing. That’s how you know just how fucked this is.

  11. Very well said by this mayor. It’s obvious the plan is to move the team to Las Vegas, the NBA shouldn’t allow that.

  12. Everyone deserves better than a billionaire making any decisions on their behalf.

  13. This can go for a lot of owners in many sports. Owning a team is just another thing to own.

  16. so is it even a conspiracy theory that the owners made this decision? are we still scapegoating nico?

  18. I enjoy Mark Cuban getting dragged. He has an inexplicably good reputation for a billionaire who made his fortune selling a useless website weeks before the dot com bubble burst. Pretending like he didn’t know who he was selling to and he doesn’t bear the responsibility is absurd.

  19. The Mavs team as constructed before the Luka trade would 100% win the title this year💀💀💀

  20. Not that it matters because aside from the big cities, Texas is red, Adelaons own casinos and have actively lobbied for gambling, and donated $100m to Trumps campaign and regardless—he’s a whore for his donors.

    I’ve lived in Dallas, San Antonio, Plano, and Austin (since moved to another state), and while I’m not a fan of any Texas teams, everyone in the sports world knows how passionate Texas is to their teams regardless of which one. It’s a culture of its own from Friday night lights in SE Texas on up to the Dallas stars and retired greats.

    You’d have to be 100% a moron not to know any or even an iota of this or straight up just a business move and not care about sports in general. Nico I’m not surprised because of the lack of attention to detail dropping the ball with Curry causing him to go to Under Armour.

    I feel for the Mavs honestly. They deserve way better, people that actually care, listen to feedback, and respect the fanbase. Not make it some cash grab machine for something else to fund their true intentions.

  21. Mark cubans legacy will only be this fuck up imo

    Why he sold to them is beyond me

  22. Just when I thought I could move on from the anger, the reel me back in 😭😭😭😭

  23. I cover Texas politics, I went to a legislative conference last month with an Adelson rep trying to talk up gambling, his first sentence was “no I will not be answering any questions about Luka.” So they know they done goofed

  24. Maybe they shouldn’t allow billionaires with no loyalty to a city buy a fucking team. She cares about Israel, that’s about it.

  27. The best thing that can happen is moving the franchise to Las Vegas and letting Dallas have an expansion team.

  30. I wonder how much money the Adelsons are going to spend to get this Mayor out of office?

  31. “Dallas fans deserve better than a billionaire”

    fixed for you, you can change ‘dallas fans’ with ‘the world’ for better accuracy

  32. Gambling and Casinos are definitely how the Adelsons made their money but it’s no longer Miriam’s biggest business at this point. It’s literal genocide.

    Those 100ms of millions donated to Trumps campaign were her buying the promise that the Palestine would be allowed to be completely cleared out and taken by Israel. She is a developer for these illegal settlements that destroy or displace indigenous people so random Jewish person from Brooklyn can take their own/land. The fact that the NBA even allows this piece of shit to own a team is beyond me. Mark Cuban is also a piece of shit for selling to her. This family is Disney movie villain levels of evil and supporting them or their businesses in anyway is genocide complicity.

  34. Adelson would rather give money to Trump and Israel than give Luka the supermax. Done supporting this franchise.

  35. Mark Cubans legacy? His legacy is the number of 0’s in his bank account. He could care less what us peasants think

  36. Y’all hating on this man just cause he watched Ozark and thought he could trade the Mavs for the Belle 😹

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