Mark Cuban: Mavs Owner Expects Openly Gay NBA Player Before Female Head Coach

You can call Mark Cuban many things, but there is one thing he is not, and that's disingenuous.

The guy just tells it how it is, and for that I have no problem respecting him.

Sure, there are plenty of times when he can be one of the most annoying sports figures on the planet.

The times when he's yelling at the refs from his court-side seat, or pumping the crowd up like a 10-year-old that had too much cotton candy, those are the times when he can be very annoying.

There's no doubting that the man knows what he's doing though, as he obviously built a team that won the NBA championship last year.

Cuban recently spoke out on a very touchy subject though, and I'm not too sure how it's going to go over with the masses.

Like I said, he just tells it how it is, but perhaps he should have avoided this topic altogether.

Ricky Doyle of NESN.com reports on Cuban's recent talk with pop-culture outlet TMZ:

"

Mark Cuban took some time to speak with TMZ recently, during which he touched on a wide range of topics -- one of which was the prospect of a woman coaching in the NBA.

Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, who has more wins than any other coach in the history of college basketball, was asked recently by TMZ if she thought there would ever be a woman head coach in the NBA. Summitt called it a "longshot," and said that she wouldn't consider leaving Tennessee if the opportunity were presented to her.

Cuban was asked for his take on the matter, during which he revealed that he thinks it will happen someday, although it might not happen in the near future.

Cuban was then asked about whether he thought there would be an openly gay player in the NBA before a woman head coach, and he said that he absolutely thinks that will be the case. Cuban said that he thinks a gay player will come out within the next three to five years.

"

Personally, this has red flags all over it, and if I were Cuban I wouldn't have touched the topic.

There are just way too many things that could go wrong, and way too many people that can get offended, but then again I'm not sure if Cuban cares.

This is just what he does, he speaks out about topics that most people wouldn't even touch.

Do I think there will be a female head basketball coach in the NBA one day?

To be very honest with you, I've never even thought about the subject until now. Same thing goes with the openly gay NBA player topic.

Perhaps that's the beauty in Cuban's logic though.

Sports fans don't think much outside of their team or their favorite league. 

Perhaps by speaking out on these "hot button" talking points, Cuban forces the average fan to think a little bit more outside of his or her comfort zone.

He can be annoying yes, but the man is never disingenuous, and I have to respect him for that.