Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. AFP FILE PHOTO
Dallas Mavericks owner Marc Cuban is no stranger to committing harsh decisions in the past. He made another one on Sunday (Monday in Manila) after revoking the season credentials of veteran ESPN reporters Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon.
Stein, a Dallas-based journalist who has been covering the NBA for 25 seasons, has been with ESPN for the last 14 years and is considered to be one of the most respected and most knowledgeable reporters for the Mavericks. MacMahon, on the other hand, has been covering the Mavs for the last seven years.
Sporting News, which first broke the story, said the pair were not credentialed for either of the Mavericks’ last two home games as well.
It remained unclear why the drastic measure took place and none of Stein and MacMahon’s recent articles or tweets suggested anything out of the ordinary.
Sports Blog Nation, however, cited a petty reason why the split might have occurred.
“MacMahon’s role at ESPN changed this year, transitioning from a full-time Mavericks beat writer to a more general NBA position that included other teams, something Cuban was unhappy with,” an SB report said.
“After ESPN failed to return MacMahon to a full-time beat position, Cuban followed through on an initial warning and revoked his and Stein’s credentials.”
Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw said he was not shocked by the news and simply attributed it to Cuban being “a moron.”
Yes, this is true. Yes, this is Cuban being a moron. Nothing new in itself, only new level for him. Funny he bashes Trump for this behavior. https://t.co/1JXj3zVyrr
— Tim Cowlishaw (@TimCowlishaw) November 7, 2016
The league, meanwhile, also addressed the situation in a statement.
“We are in communication with both ESPN and Mark Cuban about this matter,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Dallas journalist Art Garcia.
For its part, ESPN also said it was “committed to thoroughly covering the Mavs and the NBA, regardless of hurdles.” Khristian Ibarrola