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<v Speaker 1>All right, we got about thirty minutes left to go

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<v Speaker 1>in the show. We're going to spend it all talking

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<v Speaker 1>about the MAVs and the Lucas situation. A big bombshell

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<v Speaker 1>article dropped today from Tim McMahon on ESPN. You had

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<v Speaker 1>a Tim Cato article, You've had Mark Stein, and then

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<v Speaker 1>you had another press conference. This time it was just

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<v Speaker 1>Nico talking to the media here and he answered the

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<v Speaker 1>question for questions for about twenty five minutes. A couple

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<v Speaker 1>of those questions not that good. Some of those questions

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<v Speaker 1>pretty good. I had wished it would gone on longer,

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<v Speaker 1>but it just would. He would have been a pinata

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<v Speaker 1>out there just getting killed if it had gone longer.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and I think, you know, from a Nico perspective,

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<v Speaker 2>the fact that no one asked him anything about those

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<v Speaker 2>articles and he didn't have to go on record about

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<v Speaker 2>it was a win for him.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't understand that. I don't understand, and again, not

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<v Speaker 1>being critical, I guess I am, but I'm not. Look.

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<v Speaker 1>I wasn't there but for the people that went there

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<v Speaker 1>specifically to ask questions. Tim McMahon basically wrote today that

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<v Speaker 1>you know that there was a key moment that fractured

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<v Speaker 1>the relationship between Luca and his team and Dirk. As

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<v Speaker 1>he was pointing it out when Casey Smith was fired

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<v Speaker 1>and he was fired, he was so respected and Tim

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<v Speaker 1>McMahon makes it look like Casey Smith was fired because

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<v Speaker 1>Nico was threatened by him, and he fired him while

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<v Speaker 1>he was over Zoom, while he was visiting his mother

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<v Speaker 1>who was passing away, and he lost Dirk at that moment,

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<v Speaker 1>and probably lost Luca at that moment, and things were

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<v Speaker 1>massively fractured, and that did none of the There was

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<v Speaker 1>no questions about that that came up at this thing.

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<v Speaker 2>He uh, you know, if I'm him at this point,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm moving on. I'm not talking about that. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>I like, there's not going to be another chance for

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<v Speaker 2>him to be in front of the media except maybe

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<v Speaker 2>on Draft Day. And you right, and so when draft

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<v Speaker 2>day gets here, we're going to be in late June,

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<v Speaker 2>so you know, it's not going to be a story anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>And so again, if I'm looking at it from his perspective,

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<v Speaker 2>he's got to be like, great, nobody asked me about this.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's how I feel about all this. I feel that

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<v Speaker 1>with Mark Cuban, it felt like the MAVs were a

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<v Speaker 1>small family owned business.

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<v Speaker 3>I know they're not.

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<v Speaker 1>They weren't in the You know, obviously he had his

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<v Speaker 1>own issues, but I loved it. I preferred it, and

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<v Speaker 1>I miss it. But it felt like a family owned business.

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<v Speaker 1>A super passionate MAVs fan is running it. He's one

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<v Speaker 1>of us. He just happens to be a billionaire. Felt

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<v Speaker 1>like a family owned business. This field's colder and more corporate.

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<v Speaker 1>And there was a moment in this press conference where

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<v Speaker 1>Nico said, everything we do is without emotion, and it

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<v Speaker 1>goes through the lens of process. Do you have that audio?

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<v Speaker 1>All right, let's take a listen.

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<v Speaker 3>Oop's wrong thing.

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<v Speaker 1>I love a good drum, fill said locked on MAVs.

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<v Speaker 1>You said that Patrick Jamontt initially laughed at you when

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<v Speaker 1>you brought him the Luca trade. What did you say

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<v Speaker 1>to convince him to approve it?

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<v Speaker 4>It wasn't really uh, it wasn't really a laugh. It

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<v Speaker 4>was more of a chuckle, But really it was just

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<v Speaker 4>I'd set it out of the blue. And then, as

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<v Speaker 4>we said, already talking more, I gave him reasoning behind it.

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<v Speaker 4>And you know, we're a very process oriented organization and

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<v Speaker 4>everything we do is without emotion and goes through the

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<v Speaker 4>lens of process. And so once we had those substantive discussions,

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<v Speaker 4>then he saw the vision.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, if you're going to operate the organization with

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<v Speaker 1>that emotion, it really just comes down to whether you

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<v Speaker 1>win or lose. It's a corporate, cold blooded mindset. It's

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<v Speaker 1>like everything is a spreadsheet. But when it's emotion, there's

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<v Speaker 1>some emotions are really valuable in these situations, even from

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<v Speaker 1>a business and marketing standpoint, like like loyalty, things like that,

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<v Speaker 1>like passion, And if you're just gonna I mean, that's

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<v Speaker 1>the problem. Like if you're a knee co and you're like, man,

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<v Speaker 1>I just want to win a championship in the next

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<v Speaker 1>two years. I don't care about the history of this organization.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't care about the future of this organization. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to be judging if I win a championship in

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<v Speaker 1>the next two years, then maybe this trade makes sense

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<v Speaker 1>to go for it like this. But if you care

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<v Speaker 1>about the history of the organist, and you care about

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<v Speaker 1>the future of the organization, and you care about the

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<v Speaker 1>emotions of fans, you don't ever do this.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I would say like the things that he says,

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<v Speaker 2>and sometimes you can say things in a way that

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<v Speaker 2>you don't intend them. Like earlier we played the clip

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<v Speaker 2>of him saying it was awesome when he was getting

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<v Speaker 2>you know, you know, like sometimes you're not articulating things

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<v Speaker 2>the way that you want. He may have been trying

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<v Speaker 2>to say, we don't make emotional decisions, which is different

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<v Speaker 2>than we don't factor in emotion, but regardless, that's how

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<v Speaker 2>it came off. And the way that he's explaining himself

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<v Speaker 2>to me very much reminds me of the way CEOs

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<v Speaker 2>explain things when they run corporations.

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<v Speaker 1>And usually if you look at.

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<v Speaker 2>The lifespan of a CEO in a major corporation, it's

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<v Speaker 2>usually these periods of time and then they go on

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<v Speaker 2>to the next corporation. And so that's what's being communicated

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<v Speaker 2>right now, and how it's being received very much feels

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<v Speaker 2>like that he's doing he's speaking in CEO corporate tone terms,

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<v Speaker 2>and that's definitely the way that it's being perceived.

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<v Speaker 3>I want to get this correct because I don't want

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<v Speaker 3>to misinterpret what he says.

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<v Speaker 2>But Bobby Carella, who's now at d LLS, used to

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<v Speaker 2>work for the Mass forever for a long time. His

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<v Speaker 2>mom worked for the MAVs since the eighties. He very

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<v Speaker 2>much cares about the Mavericks.

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<v Speaker 3>A very good tweet this morning, and it was basically

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<v Speaker 3>the point of this is the guy who has said

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<v Speaker 3>multiple times he's here for three years, but nothing really

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<v Speaker 3>more than that, which maybe that's Nico just saying that's

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<v Speaker 3>how long my contract is. That was that was another

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<v Speaker 3>point this is I haven't read his sweet now, so

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<v Speaker 3>I don't screw it up here. He has explicitly said

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<v Speaker 3>he plans to finish out his contract and reportedly has

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<v Speaker 3>no interest in continuing beyond.

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<v Speaker 2>Then yeah, Kato wrote that, right, Okay, so I didn't

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<v Speaker 2>know if Kato wrote that that that I believe that

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<v Speaker 2>was in the DLLs article, that he has no intention

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<v Speaker 2>of being, you know, extending his contract.

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<v Speaker 3>That's an amazing thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Again, I would have loved if Cato could have been

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<v Speaker 2>there to ask him that.

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<v Speaker 1>On the record. And again, you don't want the steward

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<v Speaker 1>of your whole spaceship being a guy who's out in

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<v Speaker 1>three years because he doesn't care what happens to it

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<v Speaker 1>after that. Presumabla I'm putting you know, but I'm just saying,

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<v Speaker 1>you want, you want checks and balances. There should have

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<v Speaker 1>been one other person they could have talked to with

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<v Speaker 1>experience before they pulled the trigger on that trade.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I agree with you, Ben, But the problem with

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<v Speaker 2>that is that person generally is the owner of the franchise. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>it is the owner of the franchise's job to because again,

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<v Speaker 2>like Nico can say he wants to do anything he wants,

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<v Speaker 2>but if the owner doesn't let him, that's the owner

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't let him. Ask Donnie Nelson what it was like

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<v Speaker 2>working with Mark Cuban. Sure, you know, you can't just

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<v Speaker 2>go do whatever you want. And so the whole point

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<v Speaker 2>is that Patrick Dumont had the ability to say no,

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<v Speaker 2>and he chose to believe in Nico, and since then

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<v Speaker 2>has said several times and Nico we trust. And unless

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<v Speaker 2>that is changed, which again that's the point of Team

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<v Speaker 2>tim Cato's article. Nobody has really seen that publicly, No

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<v Speaker 2>one knows, right, all we know is that he has

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<v Speaker 2>said and Niko, we trust. And so you would believe that,

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<v Speaker 2>especially based on the way it was presented today.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the inexperience of the owner and it's a short

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<v Speaker 1>term vision of the GM. But all the all Patrick

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<v Speaker 1>Dumont had to do is called Dirk. Yeah, all he

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<v Speaker 1>had to do is say, hey, you know what, you're

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<v Speaker 1>the most important maverick of all time. What do you

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<v Speaker 1>think about this?

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<v Speaker 2>Right? And I'm sure it's Dirk. Dirk told his sister

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<v Speaker 2>on that podcast and it has translated in German that

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<v Speaker 2>he wouldn't have done that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, all right, we're not finished yet. In just over

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<v Speaker 1>three minutes, we'll be back to wrap up this conversation

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<v Speaker 1>and wrap up the show. Don't go anywhere