Things had to get "out of hand" in order for Mark Cuban to admit he was wrong.
Game 3 was played Saturday May 10th and Cuban's official apology to Kenyon Martin and his family came at 1:34 a.m. on May 12th.
I was always taught to apologize face-to-face so that I could own up to my mistakes. For me, Cuban's apology only comes because he helped put Kenyon's family in jeopardy in his own arena and his guilty conscious got the best of him.
Things got out of hand for all parties involved, but let's not let a few bad apples ruin the bunch.
TNT informed us that Cuban will not be attending Game 5 in Denver … thank goodness! Hopefully this will allow for the focus to remain on basketball.
Here is what Cuban had to say on his Blog Maverick site:
It started as a smart ass comment that I know that no one heard. How do I know, because there was a reporter right there next to me, as well as other people who saw the whole thing and didnt hear a word of it.
But at this point, that has become irrelevant. It doesnt matter why I said it. I shouldn’t have said anything. Now, the reality is that this has gotten out of hand.
When tempers and such start impacting the fan experience both in Dallas and Denver, and it requires special security, thats not what I want for Mavs or Nuggets fans. No one takes more abuse and gets more threats on the road than I do. So I know exactly how it feels. I’ve also had my family and friends spit on at games in this series. So I know how unpleasant that is as well. It’s a dirty secret that all arenas need to do a better job of protection for visiting team fans, particularly during the playoffs.
So at this point I would like to apologize to you and your mom KMart for my comment. I should have not said anything and I was wrong. Hopefully you will accept the apology and we can move on.
When the series comes back to Dallas, your family, and the family of other Nuggets players are welcome to stay in my suite, with my family. Its amazing how tempers mellow when real people talk to each other and realize that its still just a game.
If that isn’t acceptable, I’m happy to provide a suite, free of charge to them as well and place whatever security is needed to make them feel comfortable.
We tried to have enough additional security for them tonight as well, but I know your family and friends didn’t feel as comfortable as they should. I apologize for that as well. This arena is my responsibility, we could and should do a better job.
So if we can put this behind us, I will make sure when the series comes back to Dallas, your family and friends, and that of your teammates are very comfortable at our Arena.
Then I hope we both take the advice of your coach and can get together this summer. Dinner for you and your family is on me.
There is mention of a double standard in the comments section as it points out that Cuban and his family have had a difficult time at games in Denver. I find it just as despicable to hear these accounts happening at the Pepsi Center as Cuban has only now made them known and hope the guilty parties are also removed from the games.
There is just no room for this type of behavior at a sporting event.
