Advertisement

Mark Cuban hated a Bleacher Report tweet mocking Dirk so much he had it deleted

Mark Cuban points as Dirk Nowitzki looks on. (AP)
Mark Cuban points as Dirk Nowitzki looks on. (AP)

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has very strong opinions and is willing to back them up with action. From banning ESPN writers from working Mavs games for a brief period to tweaking Donald Trump in the NBA’s All-Star Celebrity Game last week, the billionaire entrepreneur continues to be one of the most outspoken owners in professional sports. Sometimes, though, that propensity for making his thoughts known ends up backfiring.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest now | Free NBA Yahoo Cup entry]

The most recent example of Cuban’s questionable judgment started with a rather innocent, though arguably not very nice, tweet from the official account of Bleacher Report on Friday night. Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki airballed an open jumper in the fourth quarter of the team’s road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The tweet featured a clip of the miss and a simple caption:

Bleacher Report’s original, since-deleted tweet. (via Deadspin)
Bleacher Report’s original, since-deleted tweet. (via Deadspin)

I mean, OK, fine. Even legends miss badly sometimes, and it’s probably not worth criticizing them too much. I did not see this tweet as it happened, but I would have opted to scroll past it without RT or Like.

Mark Cuban took greater offense, in fact, he sent an email about it to David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting System, which owns Bleacher Report (some NSFW language blurred):

Mark Cuban’s first email. (via Twitter)
Mark Cuban’s first email. (via Twitter)

Levy responded in simultaneously understanding and dismissive fashion, but that didn’t quell Cuban’s anger:

Mark Cuban’s second exchange. (via Twitter)
Mark Cuban’s second exchange. (via Twitter)

When Bleacher Report did not delete the tweet, Cuban made good on his threat to engage with the millennials and posted these emails (which is why we all can see them now):

Mark Cuban aired his emails with Turner boss David Levy in public. (via Deadspin)
Mark Cuban aired his emails with Turner boss David Levy in public. (via Deadspin)

Then, about 20 minutes later, Bleacher Report deleted the tweet and offered this explanation:

Cuban deleted his tweets after Deadspin contacted Cuban to get his side of things, as well:

Cuban told Deadspin in an email that he had interpreted the tweet as “mean-spirited,” rather than a joke (sic throughout): “If They would have had said ‘ happens to the best of them ‘ or even ‘close the door ‘. Something that offered some humor, Great I never would have said a word.”

The people on the Bleacher Report social media team would probably say that “DIRK FOREVER” was in fact an attempt at humor. On the other hand, this story isn’t really about whether the tweet was acceptable — it became about Cuban’s actions as soon as he started airing the matter in public. He comes across as overly sensitive and prone to using his very real power to police a social team’s editorial judgment. The focus-grouped millennials he is trying to reach would probably call him “salty” or maybe even “not bae.”

[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

Plus, this whole ordeal has only drawn more people to the initial tweet and the video that accompanied it. We are sorry, Dirk — you really are a legend who deserves the best from everyone.

– – – – – – –

Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @FreemanEric