Not everyone is convinced that the NBA’s most hands-on owner could have had no knowledge of the alleged sexual misconduct in his organization. Though…
Not everyone is convinced that the NBA’s most hands-on owner could have had no knowledge of the alleged sexual misconduct in his organization.
Though Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban insists he was shocked to learn of former team president Terdema Ussery’s alleged inappropriate behavior, in a Sports Illustrated report, a former longtime Mavericks employee doubted Cuban had just learned about the allegations against Ussery, who spent 18 years with the team.
“Trust me, Mark knows everything that goes on,” the former Mavericks employee said. “Of course Mark knew [about the instances of harassment and assault]. Everyone knew.”
Cuban quickly responded to the question of how an owner obsessed with the minutiae of his franchise could be oblivious to such a major issue.
“I deferred to the CEO, who at the time was Terdema, and to HR.… I was involved in basketball operations, but other than getting the financials and reports, I was not involved in the day-to-day [of the business side] at all,” Cuban told SI. “That’s why I just deferred. I let people do their jobs. And if there were anything like this at all I was supposed to be made aware, obviously I was not.
“It’s wrong. It’s abhorrent. It’s not a situation we condone. I can’t tell you how many times, particularly since all this [#MeToo] stuff has been coming out recently I asked our HR director, ‘Do we have a problem? Do we have any issues I have to be aware of?’ And the answer was no.”
Cuban hasn’t been accused of any misconduct, but one of the female alleged victims of harassment believes the owner was unconcerned with the allegations, as long as profits continued soaring. Ussery is credited for helping bring in $240 million in public funds for the construction of American Airlines Center, as well as bringing the 2010 All-Star Game to Texas, played in front of a record 108,713 fans at AT&T Stadium. In 2011, Dallas Magazine referred to Ussery as Cuban’s “ right-hand man.”
Attorney Michael McCann told SI that Cuban could face discipline from the league, even if he had no knowledge of the incidents, based on the league constitution, which could find him liable for conduct detrimental to the league, and lack of supervision of what occurs on the team, citing the NBA’s mission to promote gender equality and a safe workplace.
“I want to deal with this issue,” Cuban told SI. “I mean, this is, obviously there’s a problem in the Mavericks organization and we’ve got to fix it. That’s it. And we’re going to take every step. It’s not something we tolerate. I don’t want it. It’s not something that’s acceptable. I’m embarrassed, to be honest with you, that it happened under my ownership, and it needs to be fixed. Period. End of story.”
