Mavericks owner has no problem with players’ protests
Mark Cuban believes pro players have earned the right to express themselves.
So, when LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and several members of the Cleveland Cavaliers wore “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts during warmups prior to Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets to protest the choking death of Eric Garner, the Dallas Mavericks owner viewed the protest as a freedom of expression. He also doesn’t think NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is bothered by it.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Cuban said before Wednesday’s game against New Orleans. “I think non-violent protests; social discourse is great.
“As far as wearing the T-shirts during pregame, in that type of situation I think Adam is smart, giving a couple of mulligans and then getting people back on track.”
Cuban said NBA players resonate with fans more than any other pro sport.
“The thing about NBA players probably more so than any other sport is they all have social media platforms and they have real followers, millions and millions in a lot of cases,” Cuban said. “So there’s a lot of ways for them to voice their concerns and state their opinions, and that’s their right to do.
“The other sports, really the players aren’t put out front like ours are. You wouldn’t know a baseball player if he ran you over. I just think we have a different type of platform because we market it differently and we’re easily the most advanced social media organization, so that plays to everybody’s favor.”
Parsons finding rhythm
Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons is playing some of his best basketball of the season.
In Sunday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Parsons scored 28 points and was 11-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Two days later the fourth-year veteran tallied a season-high 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting during a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
He added 20 points in Wednesday’s victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
“He’s been aggressive so we just want him to stay aggressive, but have discretion and not get into crowds and turn it over and things like that,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s doing some good things and he’s been working hard at it, so we want him to keep being aggressive.”
Parsons was 6-of-10 from 3-point range against the Grizzlies.
“I think he took it personally that teams were laying off of us and daring us to shoot 3s because we haven’t been shooting them well,” Cuban said. “I think that’s really motivated him to not just shoot better from three, but also to drive the ball more.”
Nelson sidelined
Guard Jameer Nelson sat out Wednesday’s game against New Orleans with a right shoulder injury sustained in Tuesday’s loss to the Grizzlies.
Nelson scored all 18 of his season-high points in the first half Tuesday.
Dwain Price, 817-390-7760
Twitter: @dwainprice
This story was originally published December 10, 2014 at 10:41 PM with the headline "Mavericks owner has no problem with players’ protests."