Mark Cuban Says He Hates NBA Players Participating in Olympics, Cites Injury Risk

Former Dallas Mavericks governor Mark Cuban hated NBA players participating in the Olympics, citing the injury risk.

Cuban added that he "complained about it every single year" when he was running the Mavs.

Cuban owned the Mavs for nearly 23 years before selling a majority stake in the team in December 2023.

"I hated it," Cuban said. "I complained about it every single year, because in my attitude, guys going to play for the Olympics...Comcast/NBC is making billions, right...the IOC making billions. Even FIBA, making a lot...and we're giving all these guys for free and taking all the injury risks."

Cuban mentioned he spoke with former commissioner David Stern and current commissioner Adam Silver about an idea he had to essentially model basketball like soccer, where younger players participate in the Olympics while the game's best stars compete in the World Cup.

"What I would tell David Stern and then Adam, I'm like, 'You know how in soccer for the Olympics is 21 and under or 22 and whatever it is. And then they own the World Cup? And the World Cup's a bigger event?

"I'm like, 'Give them our young kids, right? Do the same thing as soccer. Let the 21-and-under play play for the Olympics, and then create our own international World Cup."

Cuban has made this stance clear multiple times, and he spoke about it last summer when the Olympics were taking place in Paris.

NBA players have been participating in the Olympics since 1992, when the legendary United States Dream Team took Barcelona by storm en route to a dominant gold medal-winning run. Now it's commonplace for NBA players to participate for all teams in the entire 12-team tournament with basketball continuing its global spread and footprint.

The next Summer Olympics are set to return to the United States in 2028, with Los Angeles hosting the event.