Mark Cuban Reveals Why He Sold The Dallas Mavericks

Cuban sold a majority stake of 69% in the Mavericks to the Adelson family, owners and proprietors of the Las Vegas Sands Corp, intending to build a new arena and eventually move the Mavericks out of the American Airlines Center. 

The sale gave the Mavericks a valuation of $3.5 billion, which was lower than what the team was reportedly worth but could have been the cost of maintaining basketball control and a 27% ownership stake.

A motive that Cuban mentions later in the interview is the legislation of gambling in Texas, which would give the Mavericks a headstart in opening a resort-cum-arena in Dallas which would serve as an entertainment hub instead of just a basketball arena. We had discussed the same in a deep-dive on Cuban's possible reasons for selling the team in November.

Given the political power and deep pockets of the Sands Corp, handing a majority stake in the Mavericks could be the best way to future-proof the organization.

Mark Cuban Maintains Control Of Basketball Operations

Mark Cuban didn't sell his entire stake in the Mavericks, holding on to a 27% stake that could be extremely valuable if the organization ends up executing its plans for a destination resort in Dallas with legalized gambling within the premises. 

In the meantime, he's using his 27% to maintain control of basketball operations, which should lead to new team governor Patrick Dumont focusing on the administration of the organization instead of focusing on basketball decisions with no prior experience.

Cuban might still be an owner, but his word is no longer final in the Mavericks organization. The partnership has had a healthy start and likely won't lead to any major disagreements in the short term, but as the team expands on its goals, divergent views could arise on topics Cuban would have no control over.

It isn't clear if Cuban's control of basketball operations is unilateral, as Dumont or the Adelsons could intervene if they felt the need to, given their larger ownership share.

For now, this looks like the perfect marriage as new owners can grow the franchise to new heights while Cuban maintains the basketball continuity of a playoff team with a generational superstar like Luka Doncic and one of the generation's greatest players in Kyrie Irving.