'Embarrassed' Mark Cuban now firing people after bombshell report
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has put forth an embarrassing product on the basketball court this year.
The Mavericks have a putrid 18-40 record, which is the third worst in the NBA this season. It’s hardly the type of team that franchise icon Dirk Nowitzki deserves to spend his twilight on.
That being said, the horrid on-court product that Cuban has fostered with his mismanagement is nothing compared with the horror stories emanating from the Mavericks front office.
In a bombshell report from Sports Illustrated, it was revealed that the work environment of the Mavericks front office was a cesspool of harassment and misogyny.
One particularly damning anecdote implicates the team’s former CEO and president, Terdema Ussery.
A female Mavericks employee recounted to SI about when Ussery struck up a mortifying conversation with her at a staff dinner in the media room.
She said Ussery asked the employee what her plans were for the weekend. The woman expressed confusion because Ussery already knew what her plans were.
“You’re going to get gang-banged,” Ussery said. “Aren’t you?”
“No,” the woman answered. “Actually, I’m going to the movies with friends.”
“No,” Ussery persisted. “You’re definitely getting gang-banged.”
Perhaps the worst part of the story was that while the woman was caught off guard by the inappropriate question, she wasn’t entirely surprised.
“Watch out for the president,” one of her friends had told her. “Whatever you do, don’t get trapped in an elevator with him.”
In a different incident recounted in SI, Ussery allegedly propositioned a female employee for sex on several occasions. He even offered to leave his marriage if the female employee would acquiesce to his demands, according to the report.
Ussery, for his part, denies all allegations.
“I am deeply disappointed that anonymous sources have made such outright false and inflammatory accusations against me,” Ussery said in a statement to SI. “During my career with the Mavericks, I have strived to conduct myself with character, integrity and empathy for others.”
There were multiple other allegations against several high-ranking Mavericks front office officials, including accusations of domestic abuse, unwanted public fondling and pornography watching.
This is an especially bad look for Cuban. He has built a reputation as one of the most hands-on owners in the league. For him to not know what was happening in his front office would be gross negligence.
So Cuban’s either a liar and he’s not a hands-on owner, or he knowingly let things get completely out of hand under his watch.
“It’s wrong. It’s abhorrent. It’s not a situation we condone. I can’t tell you how many times, particularly since all this [#MeToo] stuff has been coming out recently, I asked our HR director, ‘Do we have a problem? Do we have any issues I have to be aware of?’ And the answer was no,” Cuban told SI.
He added, “I’m embarrassed, to be honest with you, that it happened under my ownership, and it needs to be fixed. Period. End of story.”
Cuban has since fired his HR director. He has also hired independent third parties to investigate the allegations.
“I want to deal with this issue,” he said. “I mean, this is, obviously there’s a problem in the Mavericks organization and we’ve got to fix it. That’s it.”
The NBA released a statement Wednesday saying it will “closely monitor” the independent investigation.
The NBA just released a statement on @SInow's investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct within the Dallas Mavericks organization (https://t.co/q2Eau2rgkW): pic.twitter.com/xJK8gqvfNU
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) February 21, 2018
Of note, several of the interviewed Mavericks employees said that as toxic as the front office was, the locker room was the exact opposite. They stressed that the players and coaches were always respectful and professional in all their interactions.
“I dealt with players all the time. I had hundreds of interactions with players and never once had an issue. … They always knew how to treat people. Then I’d go to the office and it was this zoo, this complete s—show,” one female employee recounted.
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