Mark Cuban Was Going Through Absolute Hell During Luka Doncic's Return To Dallas

Sam Hodde. Getty Images.

Understandably, emotions were high last night in Dallas for the return of Luka Doncic. The whole night felt surreal to watch in real time, from the tribute video to the lineup intros, to how Luka played, to the "FIRE NICO" chants, it was all nuts. Even though it's been months since the trade went down, you can't really turn the page until we had the first game back in Dallas and that entire fanbase could get it out of their system.

Then of course, there was the Mark Cuban factor. While the majority of the blame for this entire ordeal falls on Nico Harrison and the Mavs ownership, Mark Cuban is not absolved from blame. There is blood on his hands even if he's tried his hardest to remove himself from the conversation. Talking about how the NBA removed language from the sale contract that still would have given him control of the basketball decisions (yeah, OK sure), about how if they asked for his input he would have prevented this all from happening but they didn't approach him until the deal was done (this one I believe). At the end of the day, he hired Nico. He sold to the current ownership group. He may not be the main culprit in this outcome, but he did play a role.

Deep down, you know it has to kill him to see Luka come back to his old stomping grounds and put on the performance he did. Cuban was always open about how he loved Luka like a son, and he did everything he could while he was in charge to build a competitive team around Luka and ensure that he would be a Mav for life. 

All you need to do is see how he was handling things last night, and it looked like he was going through hell

Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of his own actions playing out in real time. How unfortunate.

That's a man who is clearly sick to his stomach watching everything unfold during last night's Lakers beatdown. It was the perfect combination of sadness for someone like Cuban. The Mavs got rocked at home, Luka went nuts, and then the Nico chants as the cherry on top, all while Cuban wears an AD shirt as he tries to be supportive of everyone. To me, that looks like a broken man going through hell as reality sets in.

Much like the footage we saw of Nico when these chants were going on, I'd LOVE to know what Cuban is thinking here. Does he feel responsible? Is it finally hitting him what a mistake he made despite cashing out for billions by selling his shares? If there's one thing you could always say about Cuban it's that he genuinely loves the Mavs (and Luka). It's what made him such a great owner during his tenure. He gives an actual shit which isn't always the case (see: their current ownership group), and it felt like it took seeing all this in person for him to finally break.

And while it's hard to truly know what he's thinking in that clip, I think we can all get the gist. Something tells me he's not upset at the fanbase for chanting "FIRE NICO". My guess is deep down, he agrees with them. I look at that clip at the realization that the franchise he spent decades building and bringing to prominence is now in the gutter for the foreseeable future. His new reality is now watching Luka come to town as a Laker and bury the Mavs for the rest of time, which is quite the shift from where we were say….3 months ago. 

But again, this is what can happen when you give up your control as an owner. You have to live with the possibility that the new decision makers are going to make horrendous moves that you would never make in a million years. The tradeoff for that, is the money. 

You have to wonder though, since Cuban already has more money than God if he would go back in time and prevent this all from happening in the first place and just stayed as the majority share owner. The look on his face tells me the answer to that question is probably "YES".