Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban recently claimed the Mavericks didn’t understand Luka Doncic’s Slovenian culture. Doncic, 26, hails from Ljubljana, Slovenia, and spent time in Madrid, Spain, for Real Madrid during his teenage years as a youth-turned-professional basketball player. Doncic is a polyglot who speaks Slovenian, Serbian, Spanish, and English.
Doncic spent 6.5 seasons with the Mavericks from 2018 to 2025 after being drafted third overall by the Atlanta Hawks, who traded him for the draft rights of fellow point guard Trae Young, who also became an NBA star. Doncic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers in early February sent shockwaves to even the most casual NBA fans, with some Mavericks fans still not over the three-team blockbuster trade involving the Utah Jazz.
Mark Cuban’s Claim
As a majority owner, Mark Cuban turned the Dallas Mavericks from the worst to the best. Cuban’s leadership eradicated the toxic workplace culture amid sexual misconduct allegations, elevated the Mavericks into NBA champions, and even awarded life-changing bonuses to longtime employees.
However, Cuban sold the Mavericks to the Adelson family in December 2023 for an estimated $3.5 million and became a minority owner.In a recent interview on “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” Cuban said the Luka Doncic trade was rooted in a failure to understand Doncic’s Slovenian background. Cuban said in a recently released interview, “He’s always really intense on the court.”Cuban said,”
“Always. You see his response to the referees. You see his responses to anybody. He is intense. And while [Nikola Jokic] might not be as purely emotional, and I don’t get to see as many of his games, the guy is intense, you know? But when the game ends, and he goes back home, he’s more interested in harness racing. By the way, I grew up watching my entire life, so I don’t blame him. But they go back and they life their lives. It’s just different. And you’ve gotta accept those differences in players from that part of the world, and I think that was part of our mistake,” he added.
Mark Cuban’s Nuances
Despite being a minority owner who no longer controls basketball operations, Mark Cuban still uses the words “we” and “us” to refer to the Dallas Mavericks. Cuban was an extraordinary majority owner from 2000 to 2023, thanks to his ambition and passion for professional basketball. Cuban initially moved to Dallas in 1982 after a friend told him the city was full of beautiful women, but stayed following the success of MicroSystems in 1990.
Cuban reiterated to Stephen A. Smith that Luka Doncic wouldn’t have been traded if he was still the majority owner. “I was like, ‘You’re asking me, right? This isn’t done,” Cuban said of Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison’s phone call. “And he was like, ‘No, it’s done.’ And I was like, ‘OK. Nothing more to talk about. I wouldn’t have done this. And thanks for giving me the call.'”
Final Thoughts
Mark Cuban has been blamed for the Luka Doncic trade even though he has been a minority owner who no longer controls basketball operations. Cuban has been a scapegoat for some, which might’ve prompted him to continue his “I didn’t do it” tour. Cuban recently responded to claims about Doncic being overweight and out of shape on the “Stephen A. Smith Show.”
Cuban said, “Everybody saw him. It wasn’t like he was ripped and had a six-pack but what the biggest mistake was in trying to understand Luka is that he’s from the Balkans, he’s Slovenian. And you look at Nikola Jokic, who’s Serbian, and you look at Serbian players in general, they’re just a different mindset. They look at the game differently, they look at life differently, the guys that I’ve gotten to know from that region of the world are different and I think that was not considered as fully as it should have been.”
Mark Cuban has a point. Doncic isn’t a perfect basketball player. No one is. However, Doncic has acknowledged his weight and conditioning issues. Doncic’s work ethic helped the Dallas Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals and the 2022 Western Conference Finals but might’ve been overshadowed by his on-court anger outbursts and personal issues.
