Ever sit at a sporting event and wonder why the crowd isn't more into the game? Did you ever think about changing that?
Well, Mark Cuban did while attending a Mavericks game over a decade ago. Cuban felt he could improve the atmosphere so he bought the franchise.
The Mavs owner recently joined FOX Sports Radio to talk about why he purchased the club. He also discussed how he feels about Dirk Nowitzki sitting out a few games and what it takes to be successful in the business world.
Here are the highlights, transcribed by SportsRadioInterviews.com.
On how he feels about Dirk Nowitzki not playing in a few games so that he can improve his knee and conditioning:
Cuban: "He'll be fine. In this season it's just crazy with the number of games in the compressed schedule, so Jason Kidd already had a few days off. Vince Carter is getting some time off. Now it's Dirk's turn. We are fine. We just want to make sure he has got his legs going into the second half of the season."
On why he bought the Mavericks:
Cuban: "I was a season ticket holder and it was the 1999-2000 season and opening night we were playing the Golden State Warriors and we weren't close to being sold out. There was no energy in the building. I was like you know what, I'm excited about this season. If I owned this team I could do a better job and boom. I was like 'Wow. Now I can put my money where my mouth is.' I got a hold of Mark Aguirre who was connected to then owner, Ross Perot Jr., and we hooked it up. The rest is history."
On what it takes to be a successful business man:
Cuban: "The key is just preparation. It's no different than if you are in the sports world. I'll have these conversations with Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd where you are talking about getting ready to play the full 48 minutes. In the business world, business is the sport. You have to be ready 24-by-7-by-365 because you are not only competing with the people you know about, but you are competing with people who might get into your business and so you always have to be working. You always have to be preparing. You always have to be competing knowing someone is out there trying to kick your ass. If you do the work and do the preparation and when you walk into the room you know more about your business, you know more about your industry than anybody else. Then you have a chance to win. If you don't, then someone is going to kick your ass."
On if he's being blackballed from buying a baseball team:
Cuban: "No. Not at all. Not at all. There's one owner that doesn't like me in baseball, but everybody else I am cool with. I can't go into details on the Dodgers, but we'll see what happens."
On what's the next great financial opportunity:
Cuban: "Right now there is just a lot of different things going on that is internet based. The next big, big thing I think is going to be personalized medicine. If you just think about it the concept that the 3 of us all take the same Aspirin or Advil, when our bodies are all completely different. Our kids – maybe it'll take into their grandkids – my grandkids, your grandkids come along and say 'Grandad why would you all take the same medicine? That's crazy.' You just look at the warning label and it says you might be the one unlucky schmo who might die from taking this. What's going to happen in the future is the reality is that our bodies are like a big math equation. As the progress gets faster, faster and faster we'll be able to look at the DNA – our equations of our own bodies – match them up with the medicines and pop out personalized medicine. To me that'll be the next big, big, big, big deal that impacts all of our lives."
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Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota
