DALLAS — One reason Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has a sour attitude toward guard Derek Fisher is because he thought the two were forming a pretty good relationship.
Cuban said that before any NBA team signed Fisher this season, the five-time NBA champion was working his cellphone hard.“In particular because when he hadn’t been picked up, he called me multiple times asking for advice,” Cuban said before Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. “So it wasn’t like we just signed him or called up his agent and said, ‘Would you like to come play for the Mavs? Are you interested?’ He was pitching me and calling me and asking me for advice and emailing me a lot. It’s that kind of attitude, because I really tried to help him out, and then to have him pull this stuff.”The “stuff” Cuban was referring to was a relationship with Fisher that didn’t end well.The Mavs signed Fisher to a free-agent contract on Nov. 29, and then his request for a release was granted on Dec. 22 when he said he missed his family a few days after he sustained a knee injury.But 65 days later, Fisher signed a contract with the Thunder, the team with which he finished last season. The Mavs felt Fisher was just chasing another title and concocted a story to leave town because he didn’t think the Mavs were going to win this season’s championship.“I respect Mark. I respect what he’s done here with this organization and this team,” Fisher said. “My decision had absolutely nothing to do with the team, him, the abilities of the team.“It was a personal decision at the time, and after having a chance to step away for a couple of months to reflect on some things and really think about the totality of my career and how I felt like I wanted it to end, I didn’t want the last time I walked off the court to be after a knee injury and just sitting at home.”Cuban said he didn’t feel like Fisher used him to advance his career.“My personality is to try and help somebody, particularly somebody that I thought one thing about, even if it didn’t turn out to be that way,” Cuban said. “And so I was just trying to be nice and help. But usually when you help somebody, you expect some semblance of loyalty back. When you don’t get it, then it’s more disappointing.”Fisher isn’t sure if he’s surprised by all the backlash he received from the Dallas-Fort Worth area after he signed with OKC on Feb. 25.“I guess I don’t have a strong opinion about other people’s opinions other than to understand that everyone’s entitled to their opinion and what they think,” Fisher said. “I know where I stand; I’ve stated that. I’ve been consistent and honest in that regard. I’m just trying to focus on the here and now and still understand that people are going to have opinions about it.”And Cuban’s opinion?“I shouldn’t have been surprised what happened, but I took a liking to him; I tried to offer him some help,” he said. “I thought I offered him some positive encouragement and advice, and then we signed him. So I expected a different turnout than what happened, and so that’s the way it goes. I have my big boy pants on, and that’s the NBA.”Fisher said that once he cleared his mind after leaving the Mavs, there was no way he was going to pass up a chance to return to the Thunder.“I felt like this opportunity presented itself, and I wanted to take it,” Fisher said. “I felt like it was a great opportunity.”Beaubois out indefinitelyGuard Rodrigue Beaubois is out indefinitely after fracturing the second metacarpal on his left hand during the first half of Sunday’s game against Oklahoma City.Dwain Price, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @DwainPrice
