Mark Cuban has pulled back one legal move in his fight with the Mavericks’ new ownership, but the tension around the team’s arena plans is still very much alive.
Late Monday, Cuban withdrew the petition he had filed against the Mavs, according to the Dallas Morning News. Even so, he still wants to stay informed on everything tied to the franchise’s new arena.
The dispute started about a month ago, when Cuban filed a court discovery request after getting upset that he was not included in discussions about the location of the new Mavericks arena. That project was announced as likely landing on the site of the former Valley View Mall.
Cuban has argued that new Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont unlawfully shut him out of business opportunities, and he said the discovery request was meant to help prove that. He also claimed Dumont never told him Valley View Mall was being considered and said Dumont formed a company called Arena Development Institute to buy the site.
Dumont responded in a filing on July 31, documents first obtained by Front Office Sports. That filing moved the case from state court to a business court judge, and Dumont argued Cuban was not being denied any business opportunity because ADI had not yet exercised its right to buy the property.
Dumont was also irritated that Cuban chose to file in state court in the first place, viewing it as an effort to generate more media attention - something he believes Cuban has done often since the start of the year.
Cuban has been out front publicly about his regrets over selling the team, including on podcasts. Earlier in the year, a group approached him about trying to buy the team back, but Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont were not interested.
Even with the petition withdrawn, Cuban’s position on the arena process has not changed. He says he doesn’t fully believe the Mavericks’ interest in Valley View Mall, but he does know the ownership, corporate structure and affiliate status of ADI, and he confirmed that ADI is working with the Dallas Sports Group.
This likely isn’t the end of the story. Cuban wants to be part of the new arena process and doesn’t want to be left out of possible business opportunities. He still owns 27% of the Mavs, though that stake can be cut to 7% under a clause in the original contract, and all signs point to that happening in the near future.
Cuban is likely to remain frustrated about the sale and about not running basketball operations the way he wanted to, but that was never in the contract.
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