mark cuban and whiner

Mark Cuban and whiner." (See pictures of Mark Cuban.)

After all the years of derision, Cuban has become used to the name-calling. Most sports fans could always find some reason to at least grudgingly respect Cuban. Since Cuban bought the Mavs in January 2000, the team has reached the playoffs in each of the 11 full seasons of his tenure. It flopped — worse than any NBA player Cuban has accused of faking fouls.

"Anything that puts the ball in Ron Artest's hands is always a good thing," Cuban said. For years, Cuban has been publicly jawing with then Lakers coach Phil Jackson. In January, he called Jackson "Jeanie Buss's boy toy," referring to Jackson's romantic relationship with Buss, the team's vice president of business operations and daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

"I knew the questions everyone was going to ask," Cuban explained to the postgame press after Dallas knocked off the Miami Heat on June 12. Then a funny thing happened: while Cuban kept quiet, the Mavericks kept winning, sweeping the Lakers in commanding, shocking fashion. Cuban knew he'd receive questions about his opposition, so he shut up again. The Mavs won the series in five games. "It didn't make sense to say anything," Cuban says to the press.

I think I would vote for a ring. Winning a ring was the talk all season for the Mavericks. The Mavericks had a combined 133 ring-less seasons among the 15 players in the locker room.

"It's got to be rings," said coach Rick Carlisle, who won a ring as a player with the Boston Celtics in 1986. If you win an NBA championship, you've got to have a ring. "I want the ring. Guard J.J. Barea agreed that rings were needed, saying that's the thing players dream about.

"You want a ring," Barea said. From Super Bowl rings to World Series rings to NBA Finals rings, there is a social value attached to them.

When Cuban mentioned a couple years back that he was interested in buying the Chicago Cubs, it seemingly drew nothing but snickers. With as many low-payroll, low-attendance, barely competitive clubs as exist in MLB, why wouldn’t the league want an owner like Cuban? Is MLB really that stodgy?

DERRICK GOOLD

Cuban brings an accessibility and a flamboyant energy (he probably doesn’t have more passion than other owners; he just shows his) that should be welcome in baseball. JEFF GORDON

Cuban would be great for baseball. Cuban would be an awesome owner. Fans loved Harry Caray for doing games from a bleacher. Imagine if an owner ran a team from the bleachers!

GERRY FRALEY (Dallas Morning News)