Mark Cuban Needs to Worry About Mavericks' Performance More Than White House

It has become a tradition that the champions of the four major sports leagues visit the White House and the President of the United States at some point during the next season. Unfortunately for the Dallas Mavericks, they weren't scheduled to play the Washington Wizards this season.

That is something that has Mavs owner Mark Cuban steamed, according to Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com. While Cuban has since made arrangements himself to meet with President Obama during a stopover in Washington on Monday, it didn't stop him from venting.

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There's no point in calling them. It's bull---- by the league not to schedule it. I figured I'd do it myself since the league wasn't smart enough to figure it out. How can you be that stupid? All you've got to do is when you're putting in the scheduling software, say Dallas at Washington, yes. They managed to get Dallas and Miami and all the games set on certain days.

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While it's understandable that Cuban wants himself and his team to visit the White House like every other champion, I can't help but think he's going a bit overboard here. Because of the lockout, the league had to shorten the season to 66 games, so some inter-conference games were inevitably going to be cut.

Just because the Mavs won the title last season, it doesn't make them any more important in terms of scheduling than other teams. Cuban was certainly arrogant to begin with, but I think that winning the NBA Championship has only taken that to another level.

I think it's fair to say that Cuban should be concerning himself more with his team's play than travel plans at this point, though. The Mavericks are clearly experiencing a case of championship hangover, as they have started the season just 2-4.

The Mavs are a good team that should bounce back, and they may already be doing so after a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. But game performance should be Cuban's utmost concern. Instead, he likes to do anything possible to get in the headlines.

Could the NBA league office have tried harder to get Dallas to Washington? Perhaps, but I don't think any of us know the intricacies that go into making a schedule. Cuban seemed to book the trip himself without much of a problem, but he made it into a national issue anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I think Cuban is good for the league because he truly loves his team and will do whatever it takes to win. But that doesn't change the fact that he's starved for attention. The President had better watch out, because I wouldn't be surprised if Cuban complains about his handshake not being strong enough.