 Oh, it's zone height video coming in now. Long time owner of the Dallas Mavs, of course. I don't even an intro. Mark Cuban joins the show this morning. Good morning, sir. And we got to start with Chandler. Obviously, spent some time in Dallas. Is your biggest fan of the team, the organization, always, always there. I need an embarrassing story. Oh boy. Or seven. Oh my God. I don't even know where to start. I mean, we're just talking about him banging me so that like I had, we were in New York not long ago, and I was walking into a restaurant and like he had the door, he lets the door go and it's this big, heavy door, smacks me right in the middle of the forehead. So now I'm walking to a restaurant, blood dripping down. This did happen. This did happen. But I'm telling, the guy's stopping, taking pictures of everybody, kissing babies, shaking hands. Like, well, I'm gonna go in, so I'm gonna grab the table, and I thought he was looking and the door just comes and just wags him right in front of me. He's literally holding it. You're not a good friend. It was an accident, I'm sorry. He was mad because we wanted to take pictures. Did he sign his contract in a nightclub? Yeah, yeah, for sure in Orlando. Absolutely, we got pictures and everything. It was great. I mean, we always had fun. There was never not having fun with CP. It was a great run. Cubes is the man, I will say this. Ever since I retired to, you know, obviously everyone knows some Shark Tank as well. Every investment I've ever done, I email to him, the guy responds within 10 minutes. Usually when he says no, I turn it down. He says yes, I invest a lot of money, so I appreciate that, Mark. You've always been very, very good to me, besides that contract. And I know it's work, Chandler. I know it's work, cause you can afford that haircut. I don't know how much you spent on that, but get your money back, Steve. I'm getting ready for stagecoach, I've never been, so I'm challenging my wife. You are the dorkiest person in history. My inter-white trash. My history. Who gets ready for stagecoach? All right, Cubes, the maps. They play the Clippers in the first round. Series starts on Sunday. What worries you, if anything, the most about the Clippers? I mean, Kauai, Kauai, Kauai. I mean, you know, this is a battle to see, you know, how we can deal with Kauai when he's playing defense and on both sides of the ball. And so we have to be able to contain him. And if we can do that, I like our chances. Hmm. Mark, obviously, Luka Donchich, career ring, those are your two leaders. They've played at high level. Luka Donchich, MVP caliber, Kyrie Irving, 26 points a game, five rebounds a game, five assists a game. Is this what you envisioned when you made that trade for Kyrie Irving last season? Is it exceeded your expectations? Yeah, it's what we envisioned and now it has exceeded our expectations simply because they're playing together so well. You know, when you get two superstars together, sometimes it's my turn, your turn. And that's just not the way they play together. They play together where they read the tempo of the game, they read the circumstances, and they get the ball to the guy who deserves it. And so when someone tries to trap Luka, you know, Ky's going right to the center of the court, you know, free throw line and playing four or three. It's just, their ability to just play the right way together is everything. See, that's what happened when I signed in Dallas. You got two superstars with me and Derrick and that's why I didn't pay it out, Q. You guys, you guys were- It was hard, CP, we had to try though. So close. Mark, you guys were 10 and 18 after trading for Kyrie last season. Was there ever a moment where you thought maybe we made a mistake and this wasn't going to work out? You never know, right? You know, it was more, you know, last season, you know, when Ky came here, Luka was hurt and then we had to just quickly try to integrate the two together. They didn't really get a chance to know each other. There was, you know, you know how it goes, Luhuel. There's just a lot to talk around. Everybody's trying to figure things out. So yeah, I was concerned, but once we got to the summer, it was pretty obvious that this was going to work. Mark, there's obviously, you're on Twitter a lot. One of the things you are tweeting a lot about is MVP for Luka Dancers. I see you- Absolutely. Every single day about MVP. Why do you think he should be the MVP over Shay Gilts Alexander, over Nikolay Okic, any other candidate? No disrespect to those guys, but I mean, Luka has just put up just generational numbers. I mean, you know, the numbers speak for themselves. When there's every statistical analysis you can put together, Luka shows up on top. And people talk about, okay, well, you know, we didn't have a great start to the season. We finished great. Luka was everything to that. I mean, he integrated Kai, we got two new guys in. We have a rookie center. He made everybody better. We have guys, I mean, two guys, Dante Exum and Derek Jones Jr. were minimum signees, and he's made them just take their game to the very next level. We had a rookie center starting until we got Gaff. And he took him to the next level. So the MVP is somebody who makes everybody around you better. I mean, what Luka has done with the guys around him has just been insane. And then, you know, up until we sat everybody's last two games, we were 16 and two in our last 18 games. I don't think there's any question that Luka has carried us, carried us all the way to this point. Yeah, I'm surprised, Shay, that you haven't been fighting that good fight. Well, I'm looking at your, the mark follow-out, follow-out, the MVP, it's insane, some of these stats, the most points created, 57, the most points rebounds, assists, and 71, 72. There are some crazy stats. I just think when you're talking about the Thunder and the Nuggets who've been battling for the number one seed, that's the only thing that's really hurting in this case. If you guys were a top three seed, a home court advantage team, I think he's got a real chance. Yeah, but look at the last 20 games, CP. I mean, there's no doubt. You look, we need us, we, the Rocket or the Nuggets are the defending champs, right? So you knew they had a good squad, especially with Jamal, healthy. You knew the Thunder had a good squad last year and they got better this year. They're young, yes, but they have, you know, they have, they have a lot of great players around. Jalen Williams, probably one of the most underrated players in the NBA, you know, they weren't taking just guys that we just added to the roster, that they just added to the roster and going to that second seed. And even then, we're what? Four games, five games behind them. And that's after a mid-season run. And, you know, the first time we played them, we, or the second, the second, second last time we played them, we destroyed them and then we almost beat them without Luca. I mean, you know, they're a good team, but what Luca has done for us is just insane. I don't think there's any question. He deserves every MVP vote. And if you don't vote for him, I'm gonna kick your ass. I wish I got a vote. Luckily we don't have votes. Yeah, we're good. Oh, you don't, okay. And he's talking to you. He's talking to you. With that being said, is this the best team Luca's ever had around him? Yeah, for sure. Not even close. You know, like Lucas was asked, what's the difference? And he just said Kyrie. Kyrie has learned that, you know, Kyrie knows how to be the second best player on the team having played with a Bron. He knows how to fit in. He knows how to make the best player even better and to know time and situation, to, you know, where the ball goes and what he needs to do. And I mean, that's just made Luca's job easier, but it's made the whole team better. And I saw, yeah, this is easily the best squad we've had around LD. I mean, obviously he's getting a statue at some point. The Dirk statue's cool, but all of us fresh in our memories right now have the Allen Iverson statue situation. The Heisman? Yeah, the Heisman trophy that was. What goes into that? And also, is there going to be a sort of a rivalry between Dirk statue and whatever Luca gets? You know, I can't speak for Philly. I guess they had like a Hall of Fame row or something. So everybody's with the same size. But, you know, Dirk was iconic for us and Luca certainly is there as well. So, you know, I'll have to talk to both of them, get them in a room and we'll decide whose statue will end up being bigger. But yeah, I mean, there's no question LD has earned it. Well, Dirk's got a statue and a street. That's true, the street is funny. So God knows what's coming for Luca. It's been on record many times. Dirk has even said it that he already thinks that Luca is a better player than him. And you've agreed with that. So is he the greatest mav of all time already? He's got to be right. Yeah, Dirk is going to disagree with me, but he is. And the difference is, you know, Luca can control all aspects of a game. With Dirk, you had to get him the ball in his spot. He's not going to bring the ball up and just attack. And I think that's the big difference. And, you know, there's no disrespect either. They're both, you know, top 10, top 15 players of all time. And so I think the bigger question is where will Luca rank all time? And I don't think there's any question. He has the ability to be top two, top three all time. Yeah, when did you know that? Like, when did you know when he first came? Or was there a moment in practice in the gym as rookie season? When did you know he was going to be this elite of a player? Probably his rookie season, when he hit that three-point shot against Portland with like half a second to go, which was just one of the most insane shots ever. And then you start realizing when it's wind time, that's when Luca really turns on. And that's when he really has an impact on the game. And there's so few players that when it's come down to crunch time, you want the ball in their hands because you know they're going to be able to make a play. And we started seeing that his rookie year and it was just insane how he was able to do it. We were talking about in the first block, like just Clay Thompson going to leave, how weird would that look? Is there a scenario that you can even imagine that Luca is not a mav one day? I hope not. I mean, you never know, right? Yeah, I mean, I certainly hope not. I hope he's here 26 years, you know? He started younger than Dirk. And so hopefully he's, you know, and technology is better. Hopefully he's playing into his mid 40s and healthy and just crushing it for us. Mark, how much has Dirk Nowitzki meant to your franchise? What is something about Dirk that we don't know that the people don't know? Give us, give us something new here. Um, oh my God. I mean, Dirk's Mr. Tennis and paddle ball or pickleball now, but he's just a good guy. I mean, you know, like I dropped my son off the other day at one of his friend's houses. And he said that, and I'm like, I'm not even dressed, right? I just have a pair of shorts and a tank top on. And he texts me, he goes, Dirk's in here, you gotta come and come on and hang out. And I'm like, you know, there's like all these other people all dressed up and like, I can't, but that's just Dirk, man. He's just gonna be everywhere in the neighborhood. He's hanging out with family, friends, everybody all the time. He's just a great guy. There's no errors. It's not like, hey, I'm Dirk, you know, you gotta treat me differently. He's just one of the guys, he's just hanging out. He doesn't care. He's just a good dude. Dirk played all 21 of his seasons with the Mavericks. You guys, he never traded him, but did you ever come close? Did you, was there any wild offers for Dirk? No, I mean, even when we thought we had traded for Kobe, we weren't, we didn't even consider including Dirk in that deal. And I told Dirk that, you know? And I thought we had that deal done until Mitch Kupchak changed Kobe's mind. But yeah, there was never a point where we were even close. And that never even came up. What has been one of the hardest player personnel decisions you've had to make since owning the Mavericks? You know, it's funny because I remember vividly sitting in our locker room with Chandler on the leg press machine talking about his next contract. And he was rehabbing from injury and having to go through the whole conversation with Chand that, look, you know, there's so much uncertainty about, you know, your injury. We can't give you what you want. If you, you know, want to go for a lower number and then come back and prove it, we'll do it. But that was, that was brutal. That was one of the most brutal conversations ever. Yeah. So, so it's a Michael. Check's out. Concur. A few months ago, you sold a majority ownership sale in the Dallas Mavericks. Why was it now the time to partner with Adelson's and has it been easy for you to have this dual role now where you're leading basketball operations and you're important? Yeah. I mean, it's been easy because, I mean, look, you see me at the games, nothing's really changed from that side of it. I'm still all in and having fun and I can still dog pile when Kyrie hits a game winner. You know, it's still a blast. But in terms of why, you know, I know what I'm good at and I know what I'm not good at. When it came to tech and media, I knew my stuff really well. I mean, Shams, you and I talk about media and the industry all the time. I know that stuff cold, but I don't think that's what's going to drive growth, revenue growth in the NBA going forward. It's not to say that this next TV deal won't be good. I'm not involved in that. So I don't have any details, but I think it'll be great. But really, if you look to see where the revenue for a team is coming going forward, it's really real estate development. And if we can get resort gaming in the state of Texas, it'll be insane. I mean, all of a sudden, you know, Dallas becomes a, you know, a tourist destination. And I just don't have the skill set to be able to do that. And I didn't want to be in a position where it's like, okay, I'm going to have to pay a boatload of money to try to learn on the go to do this. Patrick Dumont, you know, he runs the Sands. He loves basketball. You know, it's been a great partnership with both, with, from both ends. I mean, I love working with them, but you know, the Sands Corporation is the world's best at building arenas, building casinos. And so it was just, it's just been a great partnership. That's what I was, I was thinking. I always wanted to work in the NBA mark, but now me being a casino floor host in Dallas, when it was the casino opens out there. Right? Could you imagine? I think that's more of my calling. Good God. Definitely, definitely. Could you imagine a Venetian in downtown Dallas? Oh, I would kill it. It would be unbelievable. It would just be insane. And you know, I don't know when it's going to happen, but I think it will happen. So Mark, when the sale like that happens, like how does that even, how does that transaction work? Is it just straight wired to your account? Hold on, it's a rich people conversation. I see all the Twitter stuff about the taxes. Did you really just have to wire $276 million in taxes? Like, what's the process like? Does it literally just hit your account one day and you're like, holy shit, I just got 3 million? Yeah, pretty much. It's me with my phone going, come on, baby, come on. Wow, dinner's on you that night. So it literally just comes right through. And that's it. What? Right, and then like yesterday, whatever it was, two days ago, it was like, okay, you know, look, it's a good problem to have. And it's not the first time I've had to write big checks like that or send a lot of money to the IRS. But I'm not saying, you know, I'm proud of it. I didn't say I loved it, but it is what it is. And I'm glad I can contribute. You and I, Mark, were both in the critically acclaimed Sharknado 3. I played the limo driver, driving I and Zering to the White House to meet with the president played by you. Like, we now know a lot more about what it takes to be president of the United States in these last several years. Are you thinking maybe it's in your future? You know, you saw me in Sharknado 3. You know that if you give me a gun, and it's my house to protect, I'll be there taking on every shark that comes out of the sky. That's gonna be my platform. And that's how I'm run. When the sharks come, I'll be there. This is, I mean, it's the worst, it's the worst best movie. You're looking at your fucking vice president. Oh no! No! Because I know what it is. No. Let me just tell you, building that movie was a blast because as you know, when people got killed, it was all special effects after the fact, right? And so there was like, Rick Foxx, so when people had to die, there was like Rick Foxx laying on the floor doing this. That's so bad, it's the best worst. We need to do it. By the way, just promise, whatever you do politically, and however that plans out, this man can be nowhere near anything important. Come on. Come on. Oh, C.P., he's definitely gonna be in my cabinet. Oh God, ambassador of some beautiful island. He's gonna be in charge of the liquor cabinet. The liquor cabinet. I'm keeping stock, baby. Chandler, take us out. This is like, this is it. Appreciate you, Mark. Good luck at the playoffs. I hope that I'll see you at shellbacks one of these nights, and I might even come to a game with you. Let's go, man. Let's go. I'm about to see you. Thanks for having me on, guys. And see y'all. Thanks, Mark.