Mark Cuban Admits 'I Regret Who I Sold' Mavs To, Explains Selling After Luka Doncic Went to Finals

If Mark Cuban had it to do all over again, he would have sold the Dallas Mavericks to a different person who presumably would have strongly reconsidered trading Luka Dončić.

Appearing on the Intersections Podcast (starts at 56:40 mark), Cuban said "I regret who I sold to" and that he "made a lot of mistakes" throughout the process of the sale.

Cuban also addressed his decision to sell the Mavericks in the first place, citing the "big emotional commitment" it takes to run an NBA franchise (starts at 56:10 mark):

"It's a big emotional commitment. You hear the passion and everything. Now, imagine going up and down like that every single game. That's hard. My kids, they were coming at the age where they are coming of the mindset that they want to work at the Mavs. I did not want that for them. It can be abusive, a lot. If fans don't like what you're doing or the team's not doing well. You're the worst human being on the planet and they treat you that way."

Cuban, who originally purchased the Mavs for $285 million in January 2000, sold the franchise to Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont in December 2023 for just under $4 billion. Dumont took over as governor of the franchise, while Cuban still maintains a stake of around 27 percent.

At the time the deal was approved, Cuban said that "nothing's really changed except my bank account" and that he would still be "overseeing" the basketball operations.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported in June 2024, soon after the Mavs lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, that Cuban "no longer has control of basketball operations."

It was only eight months after the Mavericks run to the NBA Finals that Dončić was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis, the primary piece that came back to Dallas, played just 29 games with the Mavs before he was traded to the Washington Wizards in February.

The Mavs did get a lifeline in the 2025 NBA draft lottery, winning the No. 1 overall pick and selecting Cooper Flagg. He has more than lived up to his pre-draft hype with 20.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in 63 starts, but Dallas' roster around him is in such shambles that team is currently 24-51 with seven games remaining in the regular season.

Dončić, meanwhile, is having an MVP-caliber season for a Lakers team that is in position to earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. He's leading the NBA in scoring average with 33.7 points per game, along with 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game in 62 starts.