Games with Names - “2011 NBA Finals: Game 6” with Mark Cuban | Mavericks vs. Heat

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

Mark Cuban joins us in the studio! He's everyone’s favorite shark, business mogul, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks. We go back to the 2011 NBA Finals and that wild Mavs run to the title. Mark joins us on the couch (3:47). We check out the world of June 2011 (20:34). Jack leads us through these rosters (29:39). We dive back into the game (43:50). You won’t believe where this one nets out on the scoring scale (58:30). We wrap up the episode by re-reviewing our patented scoring system (1:02:44). Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, I'm David Eagleman from the podcast Inner Cosmos, which recently hit the number one science podcast in America. I'm a neuroscientist at Stanford, and I've spent my career exploring the three-pound universe in our heads. Join me weekly to explore the relationship between your brain and your life, because the more we know about what's running under the hood, the better we can steer our lives. Listen to Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on?

I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns and church. Voila! You got straight away. They try to save everybody. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before,

try to assassinate the president of the United States. One was the protege of Charles Manson. 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nickname Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer this season

on the new podcast Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeartTrue Crime Plus

only on Apple Podcasts. Today we have a very special guest. We all know him in Shark Tank. Legendary entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban.

Come on, Joey, get your crew together. He was the bad boy of the owners back in the day. And now you've become the model citizen of the owners now. Hell no. Hell no. No? They just don't find me over it anymore. On the way.

House for three. Got it! Now tell us about this 2011 finals. Game six. In Miami. In Miami. The heatles. Everybody hated them.

You know, from an owner's perspective, I'm just terrified the whole game. Your emotions are just all over the map. And you're not in control. No control whatsoever. My thing was, okay, if I take a sip of the Diet Coke at the right moment, we'll score. And if I take my Diet Coke and put it down the exact right spot, we'll get a stop. This is no lie. I would just give the guy a hundred bucks and say, just keep them coming.

You've heard millions of pitches. You were in on the LeBron sweepstake. Tried to be. What was your pitch? Games with Names is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome to Games with Names presented by Winbet. On today's episode, we're talking Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

We promised not to pitch him anything. I don't think we did. Did we, Jack? I think we might be the only people in America to talk with Mark and not pitch. But we got into his pitch. Oh, we had pitches in the holster, though. Yeah, we had them. Some heaters.

We were ready to just like a gunslinger. We'll save those for the tank. We dive into him as an NFL or NBA owner and his NFL thoughts. His tries, attempts. I mean, the pig gets fat. What does he say? Was that? Yes, I believe he did.

Complacency, fat. We also get into who's the greater Euro? What did he say? Was that? Yes, I believe he did. Complacency, fat. We also get into who's the greater Euro? Luka, Dirk, Joker. We talk about me potentially buying a pro basketball team. I wanted to join, you know. I want to join them. He had some wise words of advice.

He did. He did. We also get into a wild scoring segment presented by Winbet. You know, we also getting fined by the NF. He got fined by the league. Tons of times. Tons of times. Then now he's like the stand-up owner of the league.

It's crazy. The rise or the change. And also the Chalupa Brawls. Oh, my God. Chalupa Brawl, baby. It's a wild one. I love Chalupas. I like Crunchwraps.

You're a Crunchwrap guy? I'm a Crunchwrap guy. Yeah. Can never go wrong. Never. Then we wrap it up with scoring our scoring system. Self-scoring. Self-scouting? Self-scouting?

Self-scout. Self-scout. You gotta self-scout the show. Yep. I mean, it's something you have to do. The tape's never as good. and the tape's never as bad. All the best to it, baby. Yeah.

Make sure to check us out, Games With Names, on your YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok, at Games With Names. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Comment a game you want us to do, and remember to rate and review. Games with Names is brought to you by WinBet. WinBet brings the excitement of Win Las Vegas and Encore Boston Harbor to your phone. Join WinBet today and bet with the official online gaming product from WinResorts.

Let's go. June 12, 2011. American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida. The big three are looking for their first title. But Dirk and my Mavs have other plans. This is game six of the 2011 NBA Finals. Today we have a very special guest, legendary entrepreneur, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. We all know him in Shark Tank.

He was the bad boy of the owners back in the day. That's what I remember early in my stages watching you when you first became owner. Then now you've become the model citizen of the owners. Oh, hell no. No? No? No. They just don't find me over it anymore. They don't find you anymore.

I just always remember you're getting fined. All the time. Welcome to the show. This is Games With Names. We basically are on a mission to find the greatest games of all time. The GOG, the greatest of all games. Everyone talks about the GOAT, the greatest of all time. This is a podcast where we go back and we get to have people that have experienced this game in some situation,

some sort of scenario, you being the owner of the team. And we talk about the inside scoop of everything. So thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to talk about it. Now, I want to start off, you're from Pittsburgh, PA. I'm a football guy. Yeah.

That's a football town. Sure is. Western PA. Western PA. Absolutely. I went to Kent State, so I grew up with, or I went to school with all these Western PA people. Yeah, because Kent State's not far from Pittsburgh.

Not far, like two hours. Now, you're a huge Steelers fan. Yep still am hardcore. And then big basketball fan as well. Yeah that was harder in Pittsburgh but definitely growing up for sure. I've been I've just you know sports fan my entire life. Yeah yeah. Now how did you get to Indiana? So my path was kind of back ass half words. When I was in high school they wouldn't let me take a business class when I was a junior. So I took a class at the University of Pittsburgh at night. And I'm like, okay, this was easy. I can do that. And so I didn't go back for my senior year, I literally dropped out of high school, went to the University of Pittsburgh my senior year, but they didn't have

a business school either. I just like thought it was cool that you know, I was living on campus and going back to my high school prom and you know, be fun like that. And then I said, know, I was living on campus and going back to my high school prom and, you know, being fun like that. And then, um, I said, okay, I gotta get a little bit serious. So I'll listen to the top 10 business schools and I picked out the cheapest one. And it was, it was Indiana. Yeah. I didn't know if that was the reason that was, yeah. I wanted to hear it come out of your mouth. Yeah. I mean, I'd never set foot on campus. Hadn't seen it at all. All I knew about it was that I could afford it. It had a great business business school and there was a book way back then that was like the insider's guard guide to um college and it said it was one of the best partying campuses in the country i'm like let's go it's crazy i've heard that too and

you're jewish yeah there's a lot of jews that go to indiana not that many no i i know like five or six jewish families that went to indiana rosenberg yeah well of course yeah um not that i know the rosenbergs but um but yeah like when i got there um there were all the jewish all the jews were like either in jewish fraternity or jewish sorority and i wasn't in either yeah and i mean literally no lie i remember meeting some girl that i thought was cute going to um in foster quad going to the little cafeteria there to get a bagel and um she said i've never had a bagel before and i'm like really she goes are you jewish i'm like yeah she goes like where i grew up in indiana we thought

jews had like horns coming out of their head there's a lot of things that went through my mind about horns but i didn't say them. But, yeah, it was a unique experience going to IU. But, you know, that was my freshman year, and it was a great experience. You're invested in a bunch of businesses. Yeah. It's been highly noted that you've tried to buy other organizations,

baseball teams, soccer? No. A lot of baseball teams I've heard. Just two, the Rangers and the Pirates. Oh, three and the Cubs. And then the Panthers. Didn't you try to take a stab at the Panthers and the NFL a little? No, no, because I can never really afford the NFL.

You've got to be all in, and they don't come up for sale a whole lot. No. And so I had an opportunity to buy into the Steelers. A minority owner contacted me about selling, and I just didn't want to be a minority owner. Yeah. And then David Tepper bought the Panthers, right? And I guess they did reach out to me at some point,

but I wasn't into it. But you talk about Jews in Pittsburgh. I didn't even, I'd met David. I didn't realize it. But you talk about, you know, Jews in Pittsburgh. I didn't even, I'd met David. I didn't realize it until after the fact when somebody sent me a picture. I went to a Sweet 16 party for a girl I had a crush on, had no chance with. And they sent me a picture saying,

that guy right there is David Tepper. And there's me. And we were both 16 years old. Wow. Yeah. So probably both chasing the same girl and looking at the picture of him looking at the picture of me neither of us had a chance now nfl still on a decline you know i i said that um and people like still rip me on it but

you know i still firmly believe that when you try to ask for too much pigs get fat hogs get slaughtered, that it backfires. And it hasn't happened yet. And I think my timeline got pushed off some because of gambling, because that kind of just propelled everything. You know, but the TV and media industry is changing a lot.

And it's going to be really interesting to see how it impacts all professional sports, including the NBA. You know, but the NFL dominates. The NFL is basically keeping TV alive. And so it'll be interesting. It's crazy because you made your money in that broadcast streaming. Yeah, we started the whole first. That's like the first time stream.

Yeah. Is it going to come to a point now where like the Mavericks are going to have, you guys are going to start streaming your own games and and you know forget the networks forget it because that's where it's essentially going well there's two things there right so like we started todd wagner and i started an iu buddy started um audio net back in 1995 which was the first streaming company yeah which thinking back it's been 28 years that's insane but um where you know now things are everything's streaming everything's digital right the question is where's the money and the hard part is that with regular linear television like when when you have your cable your satellite

direct tv chart or whatever it may be you you don't switch every month. Right. But with streaming, whether it's Netflix, Peacock, Hulu, whatever, you just click one button and you can check in and check out every month. Right. And that's going to have a big impact that I think people are underestimating. Now, you know, at the same time, the football is football and it's on, you know, over the air TV. And I think that's a big advantage. But the ticket just went to YouTube TV.

Yeah, I know. That's going to be really interesting to see what happens. It's going to be very interesting. And, and, you know, that's kind of what kept direct TV alive was having the, you know, exactly, exactly. Now they don't have the ticket. It's probably going to die. You know, and it's really convenience and, you know, it's a hassle to switch. And for, you know, some, you get, and it's not cheap, you know, no matter which platform it's on. And so you got to be able to afford it. And that, that's really going to make it really interesting. But you know, YouTube's owned by Google. Google's got a lot of money and they can adapt if they don't get the subs that they need. We'll see what happens. Amazon to Amazon too.

Now tell us about this game six, 2011 Miami heat versus, you know, Dallas Mavericks game six, man. It was three, two Mavs, three,

two in Miami, in Miami. And there's like this NBA thing where for a closeout game in the finals and some teams do it other um rounds and i'm curious if you guys do it in the nfl guys wear black because i don't know baby we're going to a funeral going to a funeral do they do that in the nfl i always love to wear black pre-game suits uh-huh just like that Johnny Cash kind of you know that feel absolutely yeah the killer yeah we're here to go to a funeral this is not a fun thing yep we're here to put people away put people away to bury them right to bury them and that was the attitude and I just

have you know getting off the bus just the image of all the guys, right? Walking in their black suits, just get that look, right? Where this is like, now's the chance, right? You know, if we lose, we still have one more game, but you don't want to give them another chance, right? Anything's possible. No. And just that focus and that fire. It was fun.

I mean, and, you know, from an owner's perspective, I'm just terrified the whole game, right? You know, people think, oh, it's so exciting. It's fun. It's nerve wracking. It is the furthest thing from fun ever because every possession, everything, you're just, your emotions are just all over the map. And you're not in control.

No control whatsoever. That's the worst part. That's the thing. It's kind of like when you're injured or now that I'm watching, I still support my team. You know, you sit and you watch and you're like it's nerve-wracking because you can't do anything there's nothing I can do right it's all and your body reacts like you're still playing or right playing right and you're you know in not that I played um NBA but you know it's still just basketball right in my body you know it's it's

insane your mind and you're looking for things and And if they don't happen, you freak out. And when it works, you freak out. And yeah, it's just such an emotional roller coaster from the night before, at least till when the game starts. It's crazy for me because basketball and baseball and hockey and these teams that you guys got to go out and win a series, you know series. So there's such an emotional roller coaster that it's longer than an NFL one. Yeah, it's brutal. Ours is like a quarter.

I know, that's a series, yeah. It's the next series, you got to go. Yeah, and the NBA, they say every game is a series. When you win a game, you feel like you're never going to lose again. And when you lose a game, you feel like you're never going to win. It's that brutal because it's a game of adjustments yeah not just in game but between

games especially because you have at least a day off and nobody's sleeping everybody's working on trying to figure out what you did right what you did wrong and you know how do you how do you win that next game yeah it's crazy tell us a story about you buying the Mavs. Okay, so we sold broadcast.com, and I was living in Dallas, and I was a season ticket holder, and we sucked. Now, wait, how did you get to Dallas first? I'm sorry to cut you off. That's okay.

You're from Pittsburgh, go to Indiana, and then I heard you were like bussing tables, or you were owning a bar in Texas or something. No, Bloomington. I owned a bar in Bloomington and we got shut down for underage drinking. And thank God. Because I hadn't even turned 21 when we started it. Jesus.

And then obviously I had friends that I was letting in. I didn't care. And we had a radio where we would listen in a scanner, police scanner. And I would sit behind the bar or sit upstairs and I would listen to the scanner and just like listen for the cops to come. And then they found out that I got it and they planned a raid and they raided my ass.

But that was probably a good thing. Entrepreneurials. Bad boy. Yeah, that was day one, 21 and let's go. But yeah. So from there, I'm like, okay, time to go. And a bunch of my friends had moved to Dallas.

Yeah. And I'm calling them on the phone and they're like, you got to come down. You got to come down. The weather's great. I mean, I grew up in Pittsburgh and Bloomington where the weather sucked, right? The weather's great. The economy is pretty decent. Because back then in the early 80s like

it was like the great recession where you know unemployment was like 10 11 percent or worse depending on where you were and it was like okay where can i get a job and they're like the economy is good the weather's good the women are hot i'm like i'm coming and so i got my Fiat X19, 1977 Fiat X19 that had a hole in the floorboard, and it just blow through oil, and had enough money, I think I had 60 bucks, where I could get gas and oil, and make it to my buddy's apartment in the village, which was the largest apartment complex in the country at the time, and there were five guys already there, they're like, just stay in the floor as long as you need to, so I did, I have a bed didn't have a closet didn't have a drawer i just had a pile man and then then that's the start of it that's the start of it everyone has those

rags to riches yeah you know everybody has an origin story you know it's the best it's the best now let's just jump into your owner ownership style you know i was around a great owner mr craft yeah robert's cool and uh you know he was at the facility every day was he he was he was at every team meeting he was in the meetings you know he was doing his thing he had you know craft enterprise in the area that we were at above our locker room so he was always around Were you that type of owner? You're, I mean, clearly more. Yeah. At the beginning more. Um, like when I first got there, I'm like 41 years old, I think. And I still hope like five times a week at that time. Right. And so I just wanted to be anywhere where they're playing ball. Right. That, but I also had to learn

the business. So I would, I would spend a lot of time there just trying to figure things out and trying to understand. I didn't come in with my own group. I kept everybody that was there for better or worse. And there were a couple things that were the most important to me. One was connecting to the players because I wanted to understand what made it work. Because, you know, not being a high-level athlete, but just at least someone who's been in the locker room, I understood that chemistry was everything. And if you didn't have players that could play together or respected the organization, it wasn't going to work. And it gave me a chance to learn from guys like, you know, not just Dirk, but Michael Finley, Steve Nash, Cedric Sabalis, Sean Rooks, Hubert Davis, guys that were on the roster that I would sit and just talk to

them. I would sit on the plane and just talk to them and I would just learn and learn and learn. And then I dove in in terms of the business side, in terms of the front office side as well, where I remember sitting in meetings with our general manager and him talking about deals. I'm like, you just watch, i'll get it done and he was like that's typically not what happens owners just i'm like let's just let me do my thing and literally i was i was calling other general managers you know would you do this trade would you just do i was loving life right it was like a fantasy team for me and i remember doing a trade with um i forget the player's name but it was a seven team trade and just

making all these pieces together and getting all these things to work and that to me that was just like heaven yeah and then i guess the other thing that um that really got me started when i got there i was going through the numbers and we spent more on software support and pc training than we did on player development. And we had like four coaches, which was normal. And I'm like, this is ridiculous, right? These guys were paying, you know, hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. And we do nothing to make them better.

And so I'm like, go to all former Mavs who want to get back in the industry. Because you know how it is. Guy's done playing. He wants to get back in somewhere along the line. And I'm like, hire them all. Pay them like $ all um pay them like 15 25 000 just not to make money but they're each going to have a guy that they do workouts for and do development for and i got destroyed other owners were like what the hell are you doing you're gonna change our cause pioneer yeah and now that everyone's investing everybody's you know that's like that's such a

huge thing the rookie symposiums and all that's a lot of people don't realize a lot of these guys come from nothing you dump a bunch of money in their lap and yeah a lot of time and they don't know how to be pros don't know how to be pros right and that's the hard part is younger a lot of 19 18 and barely went to school when they went to school right exactly yeah well you guys for the most part three or four years you have to do three you have to do three yeah and so back then it was like there was no player development now we've got you know we have interns that are there just to rebound we've got you know eight player development coaches whatever it is it may even be more yeah but back then they were like you're an idiot you're ruining the game other owners were yelling at me i mean you name it anything different that's how

it always is and then you got to try to get an edge anything you can do to get an edge all right here we go it's cam jordan from new orleans saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast off the the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. No days off. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars? Join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from

around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it. Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month. Join me to mix it up a little bit. Who is it? None other than Syke. You have to tune in to find out. So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan's podcast, your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space.

Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the fantasy footballers only now from a dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the dynasty fantasy football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast has something for you and you're gonna have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their

racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the Biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? The Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels with the image of the Biscuits. It's right here in black and white in print. They lying. An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch.

As a leader, you choose hills that you want to die on. Why would we want to be the losing team? I'd just take all the other stuff out of it. Segregation academies. When civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from that. Bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash.

Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go back to 2012, 2011. Now, this is a segment where we like to talk about pop culture, what was going around that time.

And number one movie, Super 8. Did you see see it i saw that movie that was that was jj abrams that was yeah that was the one with um nicholas cage right where he was um oh no no super eight's the one where it's like the little kids yeah movies yeah yeah yeah yeah the hype around it for me was so much bigger than what i thought it was i mean it was well done but that was a good movie it was a good movie yeah whitey bulger you know this we have a lot of boston people he was arrested right down the street here in santa monica i remember that how's that like 12 years ago it's that's crazy it's just like you know rolling in the deep you know that was a great

song it was a great song and yeah adele and now she's um dating um Rich from Clutch right and so it's just like a small connection obviously Kyrie Kyrie number one well you guys have Kyrie right now yeah I love Kyrie you love him he's a good dude I spent some time with him so what do you think I was suspended I got suspended I was on vacation I the Celtics let me come into their organization and work with them. That's cool. Just to keep a routine. And I sat down with Kyrie a bunch.

We played ping pong. And we would just talk. Nothing about sports. Nothing about sports. That's who he is. And he'd just ask random questions. I don't really know him, but he was like a really interesting guy. He really likes to get deep on subjects.

Deep. Really deep, right? Like he wants, basketball is his profession, but he wants to be a more well-rounded human. Yeah. Right? And he wants to connect to people on a human level, which is why I like Kyrie, but that's not easy for everybody to accept or understand. It's not.

You know, it's, it's tough because he last few years he's been with a bunch of teams and it's hard for, but you know what it's like when you look at athletes from the outside, you don't really know until you know them. Exactly. You know, there's a lot of perceptions, a lot of misperceptions, but you know, when, before we made the trade, you know, I would, I went back and I would watch after games and other players around the league when they played them would come up and give him a big hug right not let's just exchange

jerseys you know pat him on the back pat him on the head it's just like no larger than life larger than life they connect to him they love the guy and that was a big difference maker and you know and when you talk to him like because he is so deep, it's not the typical conversation you're going to have with an athlete. No. It could be something about the moon. It could be something literally about the ocean. Right. And he's really big into his genealogy.

Yeah. And so his Lakota roots and all these things, which I find fascinating. Yeah. Right? I told him this. He goes, I told him, you remind me of my mom. My mom was the same way, so it was pretty cool. Yeah.

What was life like for Mark Cuban in 2011? Well, pre-June 12th or post-June 12th? Let's go pre. Pre, it was, you know, getting to the playoffs. I mean, look, I have the best life in the world. There's just no ifs, ands, or buts about it. My kids are healthy, so that wall was good. But, you know, the sports side of things, you get to the playoffs,

and we hadn't made it past the first round in a while. And there were some radio guys that were calling us the one-and-done boys. Yeah. And so getting past that. Well, the year before, was that the Warriors? No, that was a couple years earlier. A couple years. Yeah, where we were 67-15 and lost.

You guys, yeah. And Baron Davis came. Yeah. That was crazy. You see my shirt, though, right? Yeah. I just want to let you know. Yeah, I like your shirt.

I like your shirt, too. Yeah, you know? But how has it changed since after the championship? Well, afterwards, it was great because I never paid for a meal. I mean, because we beat the dreaded Heat heat right they the the heatles everybody hated them and it was so different because like i remember right after we won i had to go to new york for something i already had scheduled on the tarmac i got off the plane and people just started clapping we all we went to a restaurant for an event um and in new york and people just go clapping for

me everywhere i went and even in the board of governors meeting with other owners when i came into the next meeting they started clapping which was like insane that just doesn't happen i mean that was like the second super big team big three thing going on everyone you know the celtics kind of got away with it because those guys were a little older in their career they weren't necessarily in the prime like right these three no it was gonna be not one not two not three right and then the whole announcement with lebron like that exactly exactly plus danny traded for those guys yeah and he made those moves he traded whereas these guys all it felt like they all left their buddy but yeah exactly now you're in shark tank yeah you've heard millions of pitches yeah millions you were in on the lebron sweepstake tried to be

what was the pitch i want to hear this legendary pitch a man that has heard so many pitches in his life you know what was your pitch we didn't get a chance really to sit down and pitch and pitch him so i had to go through different channels, right, through Maverick and other people I knew. And it was basically – Perfect guy to go through, by the way, with the Mavericks. Yeah, Maverick Mavericks, right? Maverick Carter.

And it was basically, this will be your town. And you and Dirk together compliment each other with Jason Kidd as a point guard. But we never had to sit down with him. Dallas Cowboys fan he was. Yeah, and that's exactly right. We even got a little message from Jerry, you know, a little video from Jerry and Tony Romo and all these guys. And yeah, it didn't work, but it worked. It worked.

It worked. And that made it all the sweeter. And I'll tell you, you tell you a story about that. During that series, we were down in – last game one, we're down in game two at halftime in Miami. And at that time, to go off the court, you walk on the court and you make a left to go back to the locker room, and Pat Riley sat right there, was standing right there. And he goes, we got you, Mark.

We're too long, too fast. And damn, right after he says it, we come back in the second half and win. And we win. So that was kind of. Is that an intimidation factor by old Pat? It doesn't matter if he intimidates me. I know, but that's the kind of. He's got his slicked hair.

It's an arrogant thing. Got his Armani suit. Yeah, it was arrogant. But that's okay. I like that. A little fire. I like that. Yeah, it was arrogant. But that's okay. I like that. A little fire. I like that. Oh, no, there's always fire going on.

I didn't want to bring it up, but what do people call you? Mark? Yeah, Mark. Cubes. Cubes, whatever. Cuban. Yeah, Cubes, Mark, whatever. Q?

Yeah. No one called me Q. Cubes, yeah. Cuban, Cubes, Mark. Yeah, Cubes. On this day in 2012, 2011 2011 we also go back on the social you're uh this will sound weird i'm lying in bed with the trophy next to me dreams do dreams come true with the hashtag yep legendary tweet legendary look at man it was barea he was such a stud yeah jj is the northeastern guy mine was eat eat your eat

my heart out mavs are playing with hot fire cowabunga okay good first half dirty dirty i have a feeling which he did heat up oh my god yeah because he was i remember in the locker room he was shaking his head he was like two for 11 or something like that i remember yeah because he was, I remember in the locker room, he was shaking his head. He was like two for 11 or something like that. Yeah, I remember. Yeah, and he was shaking his head. Everybody's like, Dirk, don't matter, don't matter. Come on. This is the part that counts because it was close.

And boom, that's Dirk. Man. What a good guy. We'll be right back after this quick break. Games with Names is brought to you by my friends at WinBet. WinBet is bringing the excitement of win las vegas and encore boston harbor to online sports betting whether you're a recreational player or some serious handicapper win bet is your ticket to every exciting wager from straight bets to parlays

teasers and any prop bet you can dream up. All players have access to win rewards and can redeem them for resort credits in Las Vegas and Boston. Sign up today and get in the game online or visit Boston Sportsbook at Encore Boston Harbor. There's no better way to enjoy sports with a little extra winnings in your pocket. Betting is a team sport. Join the WinBet team and bet with the best. Must be 21 or older and present in the state where PlayThru WinBet is available.

Terms and conditions at winbet.com. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700. 1-800-522-4700 1-800-522-4700 jackie why don't you jump in and set the stage i mean we touched on a little bit but the narrative i mean this is the super team the heat year lebron bosh d wade lebron brings big z down there with him he we got role players you got mike miller You got all those guys. It started a little slow. Eight and nine. Lost to the Celtics in the opening game.

Story there, right? So they were 10 and 10 playing us. And we beat them to make them 10-11. But that's the game where people thought it was going to blow up because LeBron gave Spolstra the shoulder shrug, right? You may not remember that. And I'll give you one other Miami Heat connection. So when I first bought the Mavs,

I got contacted by Eric Spolstra's dad who wrote one of the best marketing books ever and asked me to write the foreword. Really? Yeah, so I, no, it wasn't a foreword, it was a blurb. So I gave him a blurb for his book. The book was great. I was glad to do it.

And then 10 years later, his son was coaching the Heat. Spoh is – I mean, like – because that was a knock on Spoh at the time. Like, oh, he's too young to coach these stars. Like, Pat Riley, all this stuff. They were saying Pat was going to come out again. Right. That's exactly what they were saying. They were threatening him.

I mean, Spoh's turned into just one of the best ever. Yeah. Is it like, I know he worked his way up from, we were joking, a towel boy video room to head coach. But like, do you think staying with that team that long and building,

you know, heat culture is like part of what makes him so special? Oh yeah, for sure. Okay. Yeah. It's hard to stay with the team that long. It really,

really is. Especially in basketball. Yeah. Like even the great coaches that win championships, you guys. Especially recently, yeah. Because it's a player's league. And it changes too. Like you brought up the point about guys being in college for three years in the NFL.

Yeah. Now with the NBA, they're getting younger and younger. And social media is more impactful, I think, in basketball than it is in football. I mean, there's some great highlights for the NFL, for high school and college players on social media. But in basketball, kids are getting highlighted when they're 12, 13, 14 years old. And that's just changed the whole mindset of kids coming in. Well, I mean, I was the first kid on social media in the locker room in 2009.

Were you really? Yeah, like my generation. The guys above us were not. Yeah, no clue. That's before everyone used to go to their locker room. The Teddy Brewskis and those guys. No clue, right? Over the time, like you said, these kids are getting famous when they're 12.

And even in football, you see a little kid, he does a backflip over a guy. Right, right, right, yeah. And then he's got like a million views these guys they come into the locker room you know thinking they've done things already before they've done things what's even in last couple years now with nil they're getting paid because of it yeah it's a lot i used to make that joke all the time that the alabama and the florida guys were taking pay cuts when they came to the NFL. Now it's legitimate. It's legit. It's crazy, but they were actually doing that as well then. No, I know.

Obviously, I mean, yeah, the stories are legendary, right? It's just above board now. Yeah. Mark, in saying that, like, this is also sort of the first generation, I feel like, of rookies that have, maybe second or third year, but, like, that have had their whole lives on, like, the overtime of vacation. What do you see when these rookie guys come in?

You know, there's a good side. I'm actually positive about it because one, if they've made some money, some NIL money in high school, let alone college or through overtime elite or, you know, G League elite, that's a good thing because they start to learn how to manage their money.

So that's a positive. They don't just come to us with that. Two, they're used to being under a microscope and they're used to being watched in cameras everywhere. Like back then, I had to worry about a call at two o'clock in the morning, you know, and you had your teammates, right? You know how all that stuff went down.

And now I don't have to anymore. You you know guys are they know there's cameras everywhere and if they're going to be stupid they're careful stupid whereas back then that just wasn't the case it's the information era you know like these guys are smarter now a lot back in the day like you'd have like five or six guys that ate steaks with their hands not a fork and knife like that doesn't happen now you see like your linebacker he's eating a filet mignon like with perfect etiquette perfect right you know and i think he must have youtube it or something we had a guy um like 2009 right before then ivan johnson who didn't end up making it with us he played with the hawks for a couple years the guy i call him ivan drago but he had no idea who that was and he would he literally would just for shits and giggles beat

the beat the hell out of people and then he went to like um taiwan or the philippines and played or korea and just just destroyed somebody and was booted from all leagues forever um and i haven't heard from ivan since but yeah it's you don't have those guys anymore, the thugs. He was last played in the Philippines in 2017. Is that what it was? Yeah, shout out, Ivan. Yeah, there you go, Ivan. Let's get over to the main event, the Dallas Mavericks, Jackie.

Oh, yeah, Mark, you might have to help me with this one. You know better than me. But I was going through watching this stuff. Like, this team with all the guys, the Jason Terrys, the Deshaun. I forgot how good Deshaun Stevenson was in this series. In that series, it was insane. Oh, my God. He was torching it from downtown.

Jason the Jet Terry. I love the Jet. The Jet. Yeah, just talked to him yesterday. Really? Yeah. He's with, is he with Arizona still? No.

Utah. Utah. Okay, that's right. And he was assistant. But old veteran group. Yep. That was kind of the knock coming into this. Yep.

Third seed in the West, kind of like, everyone kind of the knock coming into this. Yep. Third seed in the West. Kind of like everyone kind of said flew under the radar. And we had a lot of injuries too. I mean, people don't realize Roddy Bobois number three. He was like our young speed demon. He got hurt. Karam Butler,

who's not with the heat. He got hurt. He was our number two scorer. And we were literally like 29-3 after 30. It was just insane. Or 29-5, something like that, how good we were. Then Roddy, Karan get hurt. And then Dirk gets hurt too.

And we lost six in a row. And people were like, oh, it's over for these guys. It's over. But we went on this West Coast road trip i'll never forget where we were just getting blown out by 20 25 points every single game and it was after the all-star break um if i remember right and it was just like we were not like in high spirits at that point yeah like how do you deal with that in in your? Because we, you know, in football, we only have 16 games, 17 games now. We'd lose a game.

We'd come in the building the next day, and it was like a fucking funeral. Well, it's still the same in the NBA, but it's like. But you guys have like eight more games. Once the next, in the playoffs, it's definitely like that. But even during the regular season, like, you get on the plane, and it's a funeral, right? But then next practice or, you know, next game game you got to go comes with leadership yeah it does and speaking of leadership what's your best dirk story oh my god that i'm allowed to tell um we love

whatever this is oh my god i've you know i've had a lot of fun with dirk um you're going to germany with them no i have not been to germany with dirk have not um oktoberfest he's invited me yeah i did it oktoberfest with with dirk um when his sister got married but um it was in the u.s dirk so okay yeah i'm gonna tell i'm gonna i'm gonna fix a story that dirk told at his hall of Fame introduction, right? So his enshrinement. So Dirk gets up there and he talks about how when I first bought the team, we played one-on-one, which is true. And he says, yeah, I dunked on his head and he quit, which is true. But what he did say is I scored the first two buckets and I quit because I was up 2-1. So there, Dirk, take that. This year, games with names. Mark Cuban beats Dirk. I have it 2-1. So there, Dirk, take that. This year, games with names.

Mark Cuban beats Dirk. I have it on video too. You can't dunk on a guy that's not in the league. Yes, you can. I don't care. I've been dunked on so many times in my life. And then I'd be remiss if we didn't talk about the road to the finals. You beat Kobe.

You beat Durant. You beat LeBron. You beat, well, that was in the finals. But Kobe, Durant on the way to the finals. But that first round against Portland, right? Portland. We were up 2-0, maybe. No, it was 2-0.

And we go to Portland, and we're up like 24 at halftime. And Brandon Roy, who could barely walk at the time, but it was just an incredible player, came back and literally took us. And that made it 2-1, and I think they tied it 2-2. But that really made us come together, and when we won that series, that really built our confidence. Sometimes those come from behind or those losses that I saw. Like for us, it was in 2014.

We went on to win the Super Bowl that year. We went and lost to the Green Bay Packers. And it was kind of like, it was kind of like a basketball trip for us. We went directly from Green Bay to San Diego, stayed a week in San Diego, which we don't do that. You usually go back and forth, but it was such a gelling moment for us, for us after that loss in November to come back back play in san diego we all were together in that area it was like the first time you don't know what it takes right you don't because you know you got 53 guys which makes it 10 times harder and you barely get to know any some of them you know but you know and it's constantly revolving right which is like you

guys you guys are getting those 10-day contracts and stuff. And it changes, but not as much as like you guys, right? It's like, who are you? With us, you know, it takes time because when there's only 15 guys, everybody's got their own. The veterans have got their own personalities, right? Yeah. And they've got their own history. And they've been through it enough where they want to win,

but it takes time for everybody to get the rolls down. And we got all that together early, and then the injuries come along, and then there's still some uncertainty. Then we get to Portland. We get whooped on that comeback, and it was like, okay, this is what we got to do. Tighten it up. We cleaned it up.

Rick Carlisle was great about it, figured it out, and then boom, we just started rolling, rolling. It was was insane you guys swept the lakers yeah i remember going into that series going oh shit this is the two-time defending champs right this is going to be tough now now we're full anti-laker podcast okay i'm good with that. Pro Kobe podcast. We love Kobe. I love Kobe too. Anti Laker. Just any, any, I'm there with you. Okay.

Any Kobe stories? Um, Kobe and I would text back and forth. Um, more like towards the end of his career, he's picking your brain for entrepreneurial. No, I would, I would give him shit.

I'm like, okay, now that you're retired. And I remember when he retired, I'm like, okay, now you're on my turf. I'm going to kick your ass,

but I'm happy to help you if you're willing to accept the the requirements and he yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and and you know we got we weren't close but we got to be friends yeah yeah i i remember he came and spoke to our team we'd always have some speaker in the off season and the amount of knowledge that came out of his on a wide range, not just competition, not just sport, but like how he educated himself in like multiple different facets of life. The guy could speak like four languages. Yeah, which is insane.

You know, like he was a, he was a brilliant guy. Yeah, he knew. And he felt that when you're around him. For sure. I mean, we, he knew that he was going to play until he was 40 at the oldest, right? And he was going to hope. It's heartbreaking now, but life is much longer when you're fortunate. And I think he wanted to prepare for that.

Yeah. Yeah. We've got to pour a little out for Kobe of the PH. By the way, I'm not a pitch guy but you know this water brand is my water brand and um we are taking it i'm just joking but i think i saw this on amazon yeah we're on amazon because it's great water nine and a half they had a special on because i think i bought like two eight packs are they like in eight packs yeah we got them in eight packs when we're done i'll look on my Amazon CD.

Because I think it's in my refrigerator right now. We're going to send them to you. Even better. Even better. If it's free, we'll give you three. In your face, Bezos. You're learning. All right, so you notoriously went dark.

Yeah. On social. You were a social guy. Zero dark 30. We all heard from LeBron. So you're the real pioneer of shutting it all down for the playoffs. for sure you had to get in the mindset you had to let everyone know you were focusing up no i'm stupid stitious and so stupid stitious you know i've been talking all the other ones and had to work for us so i'm like i'm just gonna shut the fuck up and when we won the first series i'm like like, okay, it's working. Then the next, it's working again.

I'm not going to say a word. And, you know, I don't know about you, but I have so many routines that I'm just stupid-stitious about. Like if you watch me from the first game of the first series up until game six, my face bloated like this because my thing was, okay, if I take a sip of my Diet coke at the right moment we'll score and if i take my diet coke and put it down the exact right spot that will get a stop and obviously it worked so i just kept on doing it what's the record for dcs in a game i have no idea. This is no lie. I would just give the guy a hundred bucks and say, just keep them coming.

And so I have so many, like where I sit, where my arms go, this and that still to this day. I was the same way. I was very superstitious. Pre-game, what you eat, when you eat. Everything. Ball routines, getting to the stadium early. Like everything had to be tailored. It just reduces the stress.

Because you've got to, you know, just sitting there, like you said, I can't do anything, so I've got to distract myself. Yeah, I get it. I get it. Game breakdown. Jackie, like we said earlier, Dirk started cold. LeBron started hot. Back and forth all first quarter.

Then, what I thought was interesting, Mavs got their first double-digit lead of the whole series in the second quarter of this one. Was that of the whole series? The whole series. Isn't that insane? Back and forth all series. And then, of course, the NBA game of runs.

He'd come back, kill that 12-point lead. Then we got a little scuffle before the half, which I love to see. You don't see scuffles in the finals anymore, which I miss. No, but when you're the favorites and things aren't going so well there's always scuffles it was just sean in there mixing it up sean sean's a beast i mean i mean who else has got abraham lincoln on their neck now now i forgot about that as an owner when you see these because there's there's a lot of owners that probably say,

look at these guys. They're out there fighting. Like, does it fire you up? Did it fire you up? Yeah, of course. Or is it like, what are we fucking doing? No. I mean, unless it's going to cost us a technical and a close game, right?

But no, it gets me fired up. I'll tell you another quick story. When I first bought the team, right, we're in Reunion Arena, and I hadn't owned the team probably 10 games and we we had this thing where um if the mav scored 100 points everybody in the fan all the fans in the arena got chalupas free chalupas from taco bell whatever it was and so one of our guys gary trent even though you know because kind of nba um unwritten rules are if you're up at the end you don't go for that last bucket you just let the clock run out one of our guys the fans are going chalupa chalupa so gary trent throws it up there to score right and i think it was

oliver miller somebody um throws him on the ground and is on top of him and i'm standing there because the game's over and we're expecting just a while i run out on the court and is on top of him. And I'm standing there because the game's over and we're expecting just to watch. I run out on the court while they're still playing while all this is going on. And you should see the look on the ref's eyes to try to stop me. I realize, Mark, these guys are a whole lot bigger

than guys you ever played with. So get your ass back. You got to keep the customer happy. They want their goddamn chalupas. Entrepreneur 101. Yeah, no. Stupidity 101 with both of those guys are 250 and up. Oh, man.

So you were always on the bench. Yeah, I still do. Yeah. And still on the bench. I just pulled it up from the headline in the Washington Post from the next day. Cuban punished for part in Chalupa melee. That's classic oh my god in the washington post of all places oh that's funny as hell what year was that that was from february 17th oh Yeah, right when I bought the team. Chalupa Melee.

That's right. Chalupa Melee. Now, when you're on the sideline or the bench, football, like, are you in there, like, are you saying anything to the guys? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. When the coach has got them and he's drawing up a play,

are you over there well because are you out davising it like hey why don't you uh let's do this play no but like i'll talk to the guys like because the guys who are in the game right they're focused on the coach they're not listening to me and i'm not talking to them but guy just comes out of the game and it's like hey you know just reminder this guy does this or whatever and guy i mean i'm not i don't yell at guys and say you suck it out It's always encouraging and positive. Um, 99% of the time. And then being on the bench, you're like one of the first owners to like, get to be involved. Oh yeah. I'm screaming and yelling, but the celebration when you guys win, that's the best part. Yeah. That's the best

part. You know, cause when there's like just one possession left, right? Nobody just sits on the bench where they're supposed to be. Everybody stands up right at the sidelines, right, in anticipation of what's going to happen. And everybody's holding their breath. And that ball is in the air. And if it misses, it's like, ah, da-da-da. See ya, da-da-da. And then what goes in?

I'm sprinting on. I'm getting in that pile on. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's the best part as a player that's that's awesome when you see your owner that is that passionate about the team the game the win like that's what you want to play for you know that's that's something that you should you know look i mean as a player that's awesome to see the owner it's not even about being the owner it's just part of the team being a competitor competitor right computer um it's just like if you're not in the game as an athlete it's it's different but just every inch of my being is

caught up in what's going on in that moment right there's no okay there's another game there's none of that with me it's just like every it could be you know other than preseason games game one game 40 game 80 whatever it is i'm all in you know and um that's the beauty about sport because like with with our with our organization when we, it wasn't just us winning as players. It was the people that were serving us, the people that were cleaning. The whole city. The whole city.

But I'm saying as the organization, you know what I mean? The organization, you know, the ladies that are helping you out. Everyone did their job to help us win. People don't, at least in the NBA, you lose money, you make more money when you have a bad team than when you win a championship

because you're buying rings for everybody. And those rings are expensive. I got a few of those bad boys. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down. On season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen.

Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14, to do more. No days off. And I'll have my friends, who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars, join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines,

trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it. Ha! Yeah! Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit.

Who is it? None other than... Psyche! You'll have to tune in to find out. So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan's podcast, your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the fantasy footballers only now from a dynasty perspective maybe you've been living in the dynasty fantasy football space for a while well we're here to take your game to the next level maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the dynasty

format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast has something for you and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels,

into something everyone in the South loves, the Biscuits. I was a lady Rebel. Like, what does that even mean? The Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels with the image of the Biscuits. It's right here in black and white in print. They lying. An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch is a leader.

You choose hills that you want to die on. Why would we want to be the losing team? I'd just take all the other stuff out of it. Segregation academies. When civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from that. Bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash.

Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts um the aftermath yeah take us through the night at live um we all have everyone's got a story at live what by the way what a great place to win a championship miami miami well especially there are so many mavs fans that have gone down there that by the end there you know the chance for let's go mavs which was just so much fun and then jet was like we got to go out we got i'm like dirk yeah we got to go out right so we we wrangled up a party bus somehow some way and just won the championship just won the championship right so we're like going to live i'm like cool let's go first time

there no no no no just make it um perfect spot right because i had to scout um and so um we went and oh boy it was it was a night. What's your best celebration memory? Well, the first part was my card getting declined when we went to buy a big bottle of champagne. That was insane. You didn't call the accountant to let him know you were in Miami? No, it wasn't even that.

Too big of a purchase? Those Magnum bottles will get you. I had changed my Ameex card for whatever reason right and um they came up to me like mark we've got this huge bottle of ace of spades not ace of spades um whatever it was and no it was ace of spades and it was like 140 grand and they're like do you want it and dirk's like yes he wants it and um i'm like okay okay, yeah, let's get it. And then 10 minutes later, go by and there's nothing. And Dirk's like, where is this?

Come on, Cubes, where is this? I'm like, let me find out. Then two minutes later, you know, it was one of those, Mr. Cuban, it went from Mark to Mr. Cuban. Can we see you back here for a minute? Like your card was declined. I'm like, what? I'm like, let's get americans

express on the line and um we call american express and the lady said i'm sorry i can't approve it because it's just you know you're at a club it's 104 000 you've never bought anything like this we just changed cards and it's fraud detection i'm like can i talk to your manager and they're like yes sir and he's like how do i know this is mark cuban and da da da i'm like can i talk to your manager and they're like yes sir and he's like how do i know this is mark cuban and da da da i'm like were you just watching tv did you see that we just won a championship and i'm trying to buy a bottle of champagne you know just go on social whatever it was right and so they finally approved it and i got my 140 000 um dollar bottle of champagne did you keep that bottle of champagne for all the work you did?

I wish I had. I wish I had. We gave it to somebody that was there who kept it. At least, you know, they're protecting you. Yeah, right. Exactly. It's kind of like goddamn airport. You know, you tussle every time you have to go through it.

But you're glad you got to do it. And you're like, thank God they're checking. Yep. How special was it to get Dirk and Jason Kidd a title for their legacies. Really, really important because, you know, Dirk had just been, you know, criticized relentlessly about how he couldn't win the big game. Yeah, he was like the best player. He had that stigma.

He was the best player in the league that couldn't win it. Yep. And so I was happy for him. And J. Kidd was 38. You know, he needed it and wanted it. And they just busted their ass. And so, yeah, I was happy for him, and J. Kidd was 38. You know, he needed it and wanted it, and they just busted their ass. And so, yeah, I was happy for both of them. And Jason Kidd coming back. It was nice, yeah.

I mean, I'm from the Bay Area, and so he's an Oakland guy. He's a legend, yeah. He was a legend. He was a legend. Is Dirk the best Euro of all time? Yeah. Now, Jokic is going to be up there with him when it's all said and done, but Dirk, without question right now, is the number one guy.

What about Luka? Luka is going to be there too, for sure. I think Luka has a chance to be a lot better, but it's going to come down to Luka versus Jokic for the best Europeans of all time. Now, you've struck oil twice in Europe. Like, how does that work? Luck.

Were you? Is it luck? 100% luck. Because you were the first. Like, Dirk was, like, really the first European that, like, dominated. Yeah. I'm talking about dominant. Like, there was always a couple

good players yeah but yeah but yeah game changing players that's just on dirk right dirk just worked his ass off yeah just his the amount of effort he put in like during the season no sugar no fried chicken you know nothing fried right no alcohol during the season and he's just that committed and fortunately a lot of that now is starting to rub off on luca and they're really close friends so it's cool to see the germans are very particular with the engineering nice try there did the heat live up to the hype yeah i mean obviously they won they won again they won three i think yeah so more power to them

that was it was cool to be take them down though yeah oh no i i loved every minute of it for sure that's the best that's that's insane jack did we miss anything we're pretty good but i gotta give a little shine to my man yan mahimie buzzer beater in this game i saw yan at the um hall of fame um and sherman yan hit one of the biggest shots. Right? End of the third quarter, maybe. Just an elbow jumper. And you could just see the whole arena and the Miami bench,

just the air came out when he did that. Yeah, and another time he hit like two clutch free throws, too. Underrated guy. Mark, I don't ask much of our guests on here, but this season, could you bring back the Mavs football jersey? Yeah. I'm just telling you, right, the first one is City. I designed those way back when.

I love them. And I love those things, and we sold out, and then I don't know what happened. And so I had them do it again, and I'll have it probably wear it for the opening game. It's sitting in my closet. So they're coming back. You guys should do like a, you know, I'm not, I love that you asked that question, Jack. I'm not trying to like tell you, but they, they,

they've done those whole social media where the, the, the basketball team and the football team, they do like a, they do like a photo op of, you know, the Boston Celtics wearing the Boston Patriots. Yeah. You guys should do like a Dallas Cowboys. We've done a bunch of stuff with them. Have you done that?

Yeah, not quite to that extent, but that's actually a good idea, you know, to show support for each other. It shows support, but I can also see, you know, owners and owners of different leagues. No, Jerry and I get along great. You're good? Yeah.

But you guys took it to another level. You put one on the team, Romo. Oh, yeah, that was fun. I'd actually, when I met Tony, we were playing pickup, and he came up to me afterwards, hey, Mark, just want to introduce myself. I'm the backup quarterback for the Cowboys. I mean, I just thought this guy can hoop, right? He was really good.

And I'm like, oh, okay, it's nice to meet you. Was he just dishing? Oh, he he could score he could do it all like he was like him and cron butler were all mill all wisconsin state um all-stars tony's a stud oh my god he's a hell of an athlete golf he's a hell of an athlete it's a good dude now this is games with Names. We like to name the game. This one's for Dirk. Okay. The first one is the sweetest. Uh-huh. Revenge is a dish best served cold. I'd say this one's for Dirk.

This one's for Dirk? Yeah. This one's for Dirk. Kind of like when the Broncos. Maybe not when you say it, but this one's for Dirk. Yeah. I like it. say it, but this one's for Dirk. This one's for Dirk. I like it. We got to score this game.

Score the game presented by Winbet. Oh, you got sponsors? Look at you. Hey, you know, we're entrepreneurial here, you know? We're entrepreneurial. You know, I watch this show on one of these TV networks where they sell and pitch.

Pitch and all that stuff. Taking notes. Is this presented by Winbet? This is Winbet. As in W-Y-N-N bet? Yeah, the place in Vegas. It's in Vegas? There's one in Vegas,

but they also have one in, I think, Massachusetts and Boston. Really? And it's called Winbet? Well, that's the Wynn Harbor. Encore? Encore. Encore.

And you can get Winbet online? You can get Winbet. Do they have like an app? We can place bets on apps, on anything, sports. We can put anything on anything nowadays. Wow, and they have an an app we can place bets on apps on anything sports we could put anything on anything now wow when they have an app that i can download that you can download it so if i went to the iphone store the app store or the play store and typed in win bet yeah two ends two ends w-i-n-n bet i could download their app yeah you could download their app and then you could also book a vacation to one of their beautiful resorts.

One of their beautiful resorts? Yeah, there's one in Vegas, there's one in Boston. So if I was so inclined and I really wanted to change my life, I could go to the app stores on Android or iPhone and download WinBet app. I believe they even have it for Blackberry if you have that stuff. No, I'm betting on that. I'll take your money on that one not a fat guy but just check me let's uh let's let's score the game the stakes of this game zero to ten what are the stakes for me

ten ten yeah you can't i mean you never want to get it to a game seven no no you never know because anything's possible. Yeah. When you got them down, you break their neck, throw them away, throw them away. Star power.

Um, well, obviously it was the heat holes, right? So that was as big as you can get back then. So, and then you guys also had Jason kid dirt. Yeah,

of course. Yeah. Yeah. Jet. So, I mean, everybody was watching though. Cause everybody wanted to see what would happen.

And it was, you know, I didn't feel bad for him, but it was just like, everybody was rooting for us and against the heat yeah so we were the underdogs that everybody was rooting for so you 10 10 we're going 10 we'll go 10 gameplay probably an eight eight yeah because there was some ugliness in the first half end of the first half and it wasn't a pretty game until the end. Jet hit a big three from deep. Dirk did his left-handed layup. Yeah, so I'd say gameplay wasn't pretty, but it was an eight.

It was an eight. The name, this one's for Dirk. This one's for Dirk. This one's for Dirk. The dirty heat defeat. So what do you think? What do we name it? Or what do we score it on the name?

Well, the way you said it, a six. The way I said it, a 10. 10? I said it. I mean, perfect. Middle of eight? Should we meet in the middle of eight? No.

Let's go 10. Let's go 10. This is you. This could score out to the best game we've ever done in the history of this. We're better. I'm not stupid. It's like, if I give myself low scores, it's never going to score as the best game, but who's at the top of the leaderboard?

Are you a mathematician? I can add. An average? Yep. Where does it line up, Jackie? This is taking the number one spot. Number who? Beating the 18-1 Patriots giant Superbowl,

18 and one giant loss. Anything to not make that number one. I'm happy with. I am too. I am too. Well, Mark cubes, Q,

whatever you want me to call you, whatever you want me to call you. I don't care. Just don't call me late for dinner. I appreciate you coming on this is awesome it's great to have a conversation absolutely you need anything from me let me know win bet win bet water and ph water and then we have one more thing okay one more thing okay i was actually you know i know you're an owner of a national basketball association team i was hit

up by a team in jerusalem israel oh yeah they want me to become an owner oh yeah you got any words of wisdom for a potential owner of a professional basketball team in israel i don't know do they make any money? It's debatable. There's your answer. There's your answer. Unless you want to go. I mean, it's fun to be able to say, I own this team and go over there and hang out for a little bit. Yeah, it'd be fun.

Depends how much money they want from you. Yeah. That's perfect. Oh, and please. Oh, yeah. that's that's perfect oh and please oh yeah so anybody looking to save money on their medications go to costplusdrugs.com um fully transparent pricing you go in put the name of the medication and we'll show you our cost our markup of 15 our shipping and pharmacy fees and 99.99 of the time we're going to save you a lot of money a lot a lot so like you know we're talking

about people that are in need of these drugs well everybody's got something right so like guys my age yeah they're all looking for like generic cialis yeah and i don't i haven't checked my price but you know my friends tell me that you can get like 90 generic five milligram cialis for eight bucks plus shipping what does that do i don't know they just tell me that it's useful i've never heard of that kind of stuff for our women listeners um but they tell me they like put it right next to their bed like m&ms and it's beneficial i don't know maybe their wives put it there i don't know or girlfriends happy wife happy life always thanks mark you got it well that was pretty pretty

cool our first owner a billionaire owner shark tank i know what a cool guy rolled up just chilling by himself by himself no entourage no handlers what a guy billionaire just rolling up by himself nothing that was so cool sweatsuit chillinguit. Chilling. I'm picking. I don't care. I just care. He just got that. What's the cheapest top 10 business school? I'm going there.

Indiana. Sign me up. Sign me up. He was a cool dude. Cool guy. The Chalupa story was amazing. Fucking causing mayhem for Chalupas. Patriots ever do something like that?

Like a Papagino's or something? You get a slice? Get a Papagino's? I don't remember a slice. You get a Papa Gino's. I don't remember off top. We got to do some digging on that one. I remember that. Wasn't that our pizza for a while? Was it Papa Gino's? I think it was.

I thought it was. They may have changed it, though. They used to be in the stadium, no? Wasn't our guy, our guy Sammy Biggers, was in Papa Gino's commercials for a little while? Sam? Advertisements, yes. Sam.

Sam Biggers. Wow. Oh, D'Angelo, yes. Sam. Sam Biggers. Wow. Oh, D'Angelo, sorry. D'Angelo. Same company. Sandwich, sandwich, sandwich. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I always drove by one and never got it.

I always thought about it, though. I feel that. You know? I feel that. Can we talk about our scoring system? Yeah, for today's post-game segment, post-interview segment, we're going to take a little breather and revisit the scoring segment, sort of have a State of the Union come to Jesus, if you will,

on the way we've been scoring these games. Because we talk about them with all the guests, and they can see the rankings. They're all over the board. All over the board. I mean, Mark came in and was given... Where the frick is our integrity? Mark came in and was given tens all over and we're not going to argue with Mark.

You can't argue with Mark Cuban. You can't argue with Mark Cuban. No matter what house you're in. He's in our house, but we'll let him cook. But that means we've got to take a little step back every now and again. Look at some of these reexamined... You've got to clean up the dirty work. You've got to take a little step back every now and again. Look at some of these reexamined. We've got to clean up the dirty work.

He just cooks and he leaves. Who's fucking doing the dishes? We are. We are. Putting your game number one overall over Zabransky and Peterson. Come on, man. I think within this. Number one.

Number one. That put it up. He's a smart guy. See, that tells me he's a marketing guy because he knows how big games with names is and he wants us right at the top so every time we got to talk about his team so he's just doing chess when we're doing i'm playing like over checkers yeah i'm part of me is over here happy like oh fucking, fucking 18-1 gets dethroned. But now it's like, oh, my God. 2011 Finals, Dirk, like the –

Dirty Dirk. Dirty Dirk getting one. That's so whack. And Kyler, I think, who we know is all over these and is calculating and running the show over here. Like this is a stuck in Kyler's craw like you wouldn't believe. Looking through this list. Ten.

I'm beside myself, and I won't be silenced any longer. This segment needs a hard look at the mirror. Just look at this list. The Iron Man match. These are scripted. This is a fake situation. It's not scripted. I know we love the WWE.

It's not scripted. Shawn Michaels is the best But that's better than The 1999 Women's World Cup Or the 28-3 Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl Are we just gonna stand idly by And like just stand by this list And I don't have any answers

I just can see the problem So maybe we need to like I'm not your boy And then like also Okay, Pro Bowl at the end. I think that's the best ranking we have. The Pro Bowl is at the very end. That's fine. But like, what do we...

Add some stars. Add some stars. We've got the Titans and Rams Super Bowl. What is that? 34? That with Kurt Warner. That's over the Statue of Liberty game which is probably

the greatest game of all time I'll stand on the table for that Statue of Liberty game Zebranski Zebranski Zebranski

greatest game it was an exciting game so was that the year after the USC Texas or before

after USC is 2005 that this game is 2007 so two years after two years after because that was when Boise State they were playing Before. After. USC is 2005. This game is 2007, so two years after. Two years after. Because that was when Boise State, they were playing.

They were doing some fun bowl games, that five years. I think it's because I played in those years. I mean, I was in college in those years, too, so it does have extra value. But that USC game, we haven't done that yet. Leinert's in the mix. Leinert? I mean, all we got to do is bring a bag of Wendy's in. He'll come in, see him on all the goddamn commercials.

Come on, Wendy's. What can we do to make this segment productive? What are some solves? Square patties because you don't cut corners. And it was us. Shout out Dave Thomas. I think Kyler raises a good point in wanting to put in a little bit of a system. See, I think last year or in our past episodes, we would wait until the guest was gone. Now the guest is here.

We are being, what I'm trying to say here is. Super hospitable. We're being very hospitable. Yes, there he is. And this hospitality is leading to a little bit of a downfall in the scoring system. In the integrity of it, I think. Because they are... It's gone.

I mean... It's a fucking joke. I don't harp too much on it because I like the stories. I like the friendships we make. And I like the memories we get to unearth on this show. I don't worry about numbers but we do gotta it is a it's a fundamental part it is so so here's my solution what do we do so we we have a hotline now we've got a phone you can call in uh if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions leave a message keep it under a

minute leave some message leave a leave some ideas i think we're we're open to hearing i i mean maybe we just do an episode where no guests and we just take a cold shower look at this list and maybe rescore some games or maybe we know who we are and maybe we change some stuff but I'm I think let's have the best idea win here let's see what the fans have to say why don't we bring a fan

a fan episode a real scoreologist go through this thing line by line do a little audit crack open the books yeah kind of like the LIRS yeah Go through this thing line by line. Do a little audit. Crack open the books. Yeah. Kind of like the LIRS. Yeah, those guys. We're going to hire 50,000 more. That's what we're going to do, guys.

You're going to come in. We're coming for justice on this case. No stone left unturned. And you can leave your message of under one minute at 424-291-2290 wow that was another great episode of games with names with mark cuban hell yeah man it's pretty cool to have mark cuban in our our clubhouse man yeah it's just like in the team issued sweats. What a beast team issued saves his money. I like it. Smart.

Spending all that money. You can wear this. He can make it. He better hook us up with some. Yeah. We need to get some for the wall. Remember guys, follow games with names on YouTube,

Instagram, X, Tik TOK and Snapchat. We'll see you next week. Guys. Games with names is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the Biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? It's right here in black and white in print. It's bigger than a flag or mascot. Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In California during the summer of 1975,

within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before, try to assassinate the President of the United States. One was the protege of Charles Manson. 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nickname Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore.

The story of one strange and violent summer this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts. What happens when a professional football player's career ends? bonus content by subscribing to iHeartTrue Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns and church.

Voila! You got straightway. They try to save everybody. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.