Suing Nelson

I'm a Mark Cuban fan in the vast majority of respects, but this certainly seems to put him in serious WATB territory:

That's according to Don Nelson's attorney, John O'Connor, who said Cuban is suing Nelson, claiming the Warriors beat the Mavs in the first round because the Warriors' coach -- and former coach of the Mavs -- had "confidential information and he [Cuban] wants to enjoin Don from coaching against the Mavericks."

Maybe O'Connor's badly misrepresenting the substance of the lawsuit or maybe there's some hidden aspect to this that I'm unaware of, but this certainly seems pretty ridiculous. There are former members of the Spurs organization sprinkled throughout the league (Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, for example) and they don't recuse themselves from playing against San Antonio.

Photo by Flickr user KK+ used under a Creative Commons license

Comments

Actually, my understanding is that the lawsuit relates primarily to violations of non-compete agreements, and that this description is not exactly accurate -- at least that's what I heard on ESPN. Of course, as a lawyer, I should just look it up, and I probably will.

Posted by IP Guy | July 6, 2007 8:53 AM

Actually, my understanding is that the lawsuit relates primarily to violations of non-compete agreements, and that this description is not exactly accurate -- at least that's what I heard on ESPN. Of course, as a lawyer, I should just look it up, and I probably will.

Posted by IP Guy | July 6, 2007 8:54 AM

Cuban holds grudges like no other, and he's a bully. Add to this the fact that the coach he mocked by waiting to unfurl the Mavs' Western Conference Championship banner until the night the Warriors were in town humiliated him in the most spectacular way possible in the playoffs, and...yeah, he's gonna go after him any way he can.

The person I always think of when I read about these things is Donnie Nelson. I can understand working for a guy who's not on the best terms with your dad, but when they're taking shots at each other in the media and your boss is actively trying to ruin your dad's career with a lawsuit...I mean, how much can you compartmentalize here? If Don and Donnie are estranged, it would be news to me, as Donnie seemed to speak affectionately of Don in a Chad Ford interview following the playoff series.

Posted by Jake H. | July 6, 2007 9:22 AM

Mark Cuban is like the NBA's version of Rumsfeld for me. An arrogant jerk who spends to much time arguing over how awesome he truly is. I cant put into words how wonderful it was to watch him pout during the Warriors-Mavs series. He really should spend less time whining about refs and Don Nelson and more time finding a low-post presence to make Dirks life a little easier.

Posted by Derrick | July 6, 2007 10:59 AM

Don and Donnie aren't estranged, but they lead separate lives. While Don's living it up with Owen Wilson in Maui, Donnie is at his lakehouse in East Texas.

Cuban is making a fool of himself here. However, when you see Nellie doing the same thing in Golden State that he did for his last few years in Dallas - talking about not coming back next year well into the summer, hinting that more money might help - it's a little easier to be on Nellie's side less.

Posted by Jeff | July 6, 2007 11:05 AM

I wonder what it is that Matt find so likable about Mark Cuban? He's got an insatiable desire to win at any cost (if you like that, doesn't that mean you have to like Kobe?), and he's interested in having some sort of open communication with the fans.

I can't stand the guy - he strikes me as a prototype of some one who believes that being successful hinges upon beating the shit out of everyone else. And since he's powerful and successful, I find that especially distasteful.

Posted by Mavis Beacon | July 6, 2007 2:43 PM

i feel similarly to mavis, in that i'm suprised to hear bmm is a big cuban fan. i'm a huge mavs fan and have been for about all of my life, but i think cuban is best described by a line from the grifters. the girl grifter is telling the boy grifter about how she and an ex used to swindle texas oil millionaires. she says "they made money when everyone was making money. they. think. that. means. they're. smart."

cuban gets a lot of credit from mavs fans and the dallas media for turning the team around, but the truth is that they had dirk, finley and nash when he bought them, and they were i think about .500 that year.

Posted by snidely | July 6, 2007 4:37 PM