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Wednesday, November 22, 2000
Cuban nicked for $25,000 this time



DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says his latest fine for comments targeting referees may be the last.

Cuban was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for verbally abusing and publicly criticizing officials.

It's the third time in eight days that the Internet billionaire has been fined for the same reason. His previous punishments were for $5,000 and $15,000.

"Although I don't mind paying the fines, this is probably the last," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I have had some substantive conversations with the league, and I like some of the steps that are being taken. So we can stop talking about the refs and the processes and talk about basketball."

Fearing he was becoming a distraction to the team, Cuban missed his first two games of the season after his $15,000 fine Monday. He returned Tuesday night and witnessed a 116-110 loss at home to Seattle.

Cuban was fined $5,000 on Nov. 14 for comments he made during the Mavericks' 109-84 loss to the Kings on Nov. 12.

And fines aren't Cuban's only recent problem. The Belo Corp. media group has sued him, contending he reneged on an agreement to buy the company's minority stake in the team and the American Airlines Center.

Belo, whose media holdings include The Dallas Morning News, bought a 12 percent stake in the NBA team for $24 million in July 1999, when real estate developer Ross Perot Jr. was the team's majority owner.

"We are reluctant plaintiffs in this dispute and are disappointed that we have to resort to litigation to enforce Belo's contractual rights," senior executive vice president Michael McCarthy said. "Nonetheless, we intend to receive the consideration Belo is entitled to under our agreement with Mr. Cuban."

After sitting calmly through Tuesday night's game -- with his mother seated next to him -- Cuban then waited outside the officials' locker room. When they arrived, he said: "Am I mistaken or did No. 30 just hand them the game? Nice game No. 30."

Gary Benson, the official who wears No. 30, called Dallas' Shawn Bradley for a foul when he swung his elbows after grabbing a rebound with 42.9 seconds left and the Mavs trailing 112-110.

Shortly before, Seattle's Desmond Mason's block of a short shot by Bradley could've been called for goaltending, but wasn't.

"If that wasn't goaltending, I'll walk home right now," Cuban told The Dallas Morning News. "It's disgusting that it comes down to a referee's call."

Cuban has said the league needs to monitor officials better and says he has charts showing how his team is treated unfairly. Against Seattle, Dallas shot one more free throw than the Sonics.

"I have no problem if it's a good game, but if a ref steals a game from us, how am I going to be quiet?" he said. "I'm not criticizing the refs, really I'm not. But hopefully the averages will start turning out in our favor."

The Mavericks did win a minor battle Wednesday in their quest for respect from the league and its officials.

Utah's Karl Malone was fined $7,500 and suspended one game without pay for backhanding Dallas' Christian Laettner in the face during the first period of Monday night's game.

As for the lawsuit, the Belo Corp. media group's 1999 purchase included a 6 percent interest in the downtown arena being built for the Mavericks and NHL Dallas Stars.

In January, when Cuban bought a majority interest in the Mavs from Perot in a transaction that valued the team at $280 million. The Belo stake increased in value to $34.7 million.

The lawsuit states that as part of the deal Belo had a right to sell its stake to Cuban on the same terms as Perot. The company negotiated a deal with Cuban to maintain the option to sell until July, according to documents.

Belo said it intended to sell its Mavericks holding along with other assets in June. Cuban's lawyer sent drafts of closing documents in July, the company contends.

Cuban soon began complaining about the News' coverage of the Mavericks, according to Belo.

Cuban said he decided to end negotiations with Belo over the sale after the newspaper did not run a story on the day of an exhibition game with the Miami Heat in October. There was no signed contract because the two sides were unable to reach an agreement, he added.

"The reason we were unable to reach an agreement was because I had made it clear to Belo management that I was only going to sign the agreement once Belo demonstrated to me that they were able to consistently keep up their end of the deal, which was ongoing editorial coverage of the Dallas Mavericks in The Dallas Morning News," he said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.



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