Harrison Barnes Disagrees with Mark Cuban's Comments on Youth Basketball Culture

Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes disagreed with Mavs owner Mark Cuban's recent comments on youth basketball culture in a statement provided to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated on Saturday:

Cuban spoke with George Efkarpides of Eurohoops in an interview published Friday and offered the following comments when asked how important it was that Mavs rookie guard Luka Doncic had professional experience before entering the NBA:

"It is important because you're used to people being older than you but I think he just learned how to play basketball and that's the biggest gift. When you're gifted as he is and you actually learn to play the game. If you look at the basketball education of kids starting at 11-years old in Europe and particularly Slovenia which is basketball oriented.

"If we took our best kids and seven years before they are McDonald's all-American, we sent them over to Slovenia to get an education, the league would be a thousand times better. They just learn how to play basketball while our guys learn how to dunk and put together mixtapes."

Cuban received criticism for his comments from numerous sources, including Dallas Cowboys writer Clarence Hill Jr., who called on the team owner to clarify his statement:

Myron Medcalf of ESPN also said he'd take youth basketball players from Chicago over a team from Slovenia:

On Friday evening, Cuban followed up on his comments:

Efkarpides also offered his take on the subject:

Efkarpides' comments hold water, in that European players may have fewer distractions and obstacles than American players. In that sense, there are significant advantages for a youth basketball player learning and developing in Europe, and the likely Rookie of the Year Doncic is a product of that environment.

On the other end, Jack Maloney of CBS Sports wrote more on Cuban's remarks in a Saturday piece and made strong points: "It's not surprising at all that Barnes—or any other player—would find fault with Cuban's comments. They're at worst disrespectful, and at best insensitive. And there's especially no reason for the owner of a team to say something like this when many of his own players grew up in the American youth system."