Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban Calling On NBA To Overturn Warriors' Win After Mistake By Ref
The Dallas Mavericks aren't going down without a fight after losing to the Golden State Warriors. Wednesday's night win by the Warriors will end on a cliffhanger after Mavs owner Mark Cuban announced that he is filing a dispute against the NBA, crying foul on a decisive play.
Cuban alleges that a refereeing mistake in the third quarter led to two easy points for the Warriors, and Dallas happened to lose by two (127-125).
The owner is calling out what initially appeared like a brain fart by the Mavericks. On one play, the Warriors inbounded the ball and scored when they noticed the entire Dallas team was on the other side of the court.
It was a strange scene destined for a spot on "Shaqtin' a Fool."
Strange Play Was A Mix-Up, Says Cuban
Apparently, Dallas thought the ball was hit out of bounds by Warriors center Kevon Looney and that the possession was theirs.
Cuban is calling the moment a refereeing mistake — one that ultimately cost the Mavericks a win, amid a battle for Western Conference playoff seeding.
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Cuban noted on Twitter that the Mavericks thought they had possession on the play, thus the confusing absence.
"During the time out the official changed the call and never told us," Mark Cuban said. "Then when they saw us line up as if it were our ball, he just gave the ball to the warriors. Never said a word to us They got an easy basketball. Crazy that it would matter in a 2 point game."
He added, "All they had to do was tell us and they didn't. ... Only two refs were on that side of the court and we had 2 guys at half court going to in bound. The other ref obviously thought it was our ball as well."
(Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
Cuban's Disputes
It's not the first time Cuban has disputed an NBA game's result.
In 2020, the owner protested a Mavs loss against the Atlanta Hawks. Cuban denied the loss after a goaltending call was made on then-Mavs player Dorian Finney-Smith. The Mavs lost by three to the Hawks, and the game was never replayed.
In 2008, the Hawks and Miami Heat were allowed to replay the final 51.9 seconds of a game won by Atlanta. The Heat disputed an error in counting fouls and NBA Commissioner David Stern allowed them to scratch the results for a rematch. The rematch was the fifth in NBA history.
Commissioner Adam Silver will have five days after receiving the written protest from Mark Cuban to make a ruling.
Refereeing and no-calls have been trending in recent NBA headlines.
One ref, 37-year-old Ben Taylor, was even demoted after Toronto Raptors guard Fred Vanvleet went on an explicit rant against Taylor's calls.
Does Mark Cuban make a compelling case?