The past couple of days have felt like an eternity for the Dallas Mavericks -- especially in light of critical comments Mavericks owner Mark Cuban publicly directed at future NBA Hall-of Famer Dirk Nowitzki.
Yet, as reported by ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon, the Dallas Mavericks head honcho is making an attempt to stem any possible controversy head-on -- “I mean, I said it to his face before I said it to the media. Look, Dirk knows that I’ve got his back on everything, on the court and off. We’ve been doing this together for 14 years. Like I told him before, I said, ‘I’m allowed to mess with you every five or 10 years.’
Despite what Mark Cuban termed as "naps" that Dirk Nowitzki sometimes takes in key games (such as last week's debacle at Golden State,) along with what Cuban perceives as lapses in concentration, the Dallas Mavericks' billionaire owner still stands firmly in Dirk Nowitzki's corner.
"...the next question they asked was, ‘Would you ever trade Dirk?’ And the answer was absolutely not.”
While Dirk Nowitzki was certainly not the happiest camper when asked about Mark Cuban's barbs, he kept his opinions to himself and reiterated the need for him to take a full leadership role.
In the end, Mark Cuban's words were intended as "something to perk" Dallas Mavericks players "up a little bit."
Despite possible objections from the Dallas Mavericks' most-recognizable and beloved player off this generation (and perhaps of all-time,) there doesn't seem to be a public mutiny brewing at American Airlines Center anytime soon.
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