Selling a business is a little like selling a house. Even when the price is right, it’s easy to replay the “what ifs” long after the papers are signed.
Billionaire entrepreneur and former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban did exactly that while reflecting on his blockbuster sale of the franchise during the “DLLS Mavs Podcast” in 2025. Looking back, Cuban said the decision itself wasn’t the mistake. The process was.
“I don’t regret selling the team. I regret how I did it,” Cuban said. “Would I still sell the team? Yes. For all the same reasons I’ve said a hundred times. Would I do it the same way? Absolutely not.”
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Asked what he would change, Cuban’s answer was simple.
“I would have put it out to bid,” he said on the podcast.
He explained that his relationship with the Adelson family wasn’t the reason he decided to sell. In fact, he said he initially believed they would partner with him on building a new arena rather than purchase the franchise outright.
Cuban also said that he had told NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about his plans more than a year before the sale became public, emailing him in October 2022 to explain why he felt it was time.
Those reasons haven’t changed.
After more than two decades as owner, Cuban said his priorities had shifted toward family. At the same time, he believed the NBA has evolved from an entrepreneurial league focused on improving the fan experience into one increasingly centered on franchise valuations.
“It went from being very entrepreneurial—what can we do to make the NBA better for fans—to how can we increase valuations,” Cuban said. “Those are two very different types of businesses.”
He added that private equity has become a much larger influence around the league, changing the way many teams are viewed and managed.
“What’s done is done,” Cuban said in the interview. “I’m still a Mavs fan for life and that’s what matters.”
Although Cuban expected to remain deeply involved in basketball operations after the sale, he said the final agreement didn’t unfold the way he anticipated. Cuban recently filed a lawsuit against the current ownership group seeking transparency on certain team-related business matters.
A Familiar Business Playbook
Cuban’s willingness to sell the Mavericks may have surprised basketball fans, but it fits a pattern that has defined much of his business career.
Over the next 23 years, he transformed the franchise into an NBA champion and one of the league’s most valuable teams before selling a controlling stake at a multibillion-dollar valuation.
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The common thread isn’t holding onto businesses forever. It’s recognizing when it’s time to move on.
You don’t need to be a billionaire to apply that thinking. Cuban’s whole career — from Broadcast.com to the Mavericks — has been about getting into the right opportunity early, before everyone else sees the value.
For Cuban, the lesson from the Mavericks sale wasn’t about whether to sell—it was about making sure the next exit is handled differently.
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