Mark Cuban Says He Regrets Selling Mavericks To Major Trump Donor

Mark Cuban’s recent admission on the Intersections podcast highlights a revealing contradiction in the way wealthy public figures often present themselves.

Speaking on the podcast, Cuban said, "I don’t regret selling, I regret who I sold to," adding that he "made a lot of mistakes in the process."

Businessman, entrepreneur, and television personality Mark Cuban. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for WIRED)

In late 2023, Cuban sold a controlling interest in the Mavericks in a deal valued at roughly $3.5 billion to the Adelson and Dumont families, while keeping a minority stake. 

READ: NBA Denies Report It Blocked Trump-Supporting Miriam Adelson From Being Primary Mavericks Owner

At the time, the arrangement seemed to offer the best of both worlds: a massive payday and continued proximity to the franchise he had long defined.

Cuban spent much of the last election cycle as a high-profile surrogate for Democrats and a vocal critic of Donald Trump. But when it came time to sell his most valuable asset, he did business with one of Trump’s most prominent donor circles. He was willing to take billions from the very world he publicly criticized, and only later began expressing regret once the consequences of the sale came into focus.

U.S. President Donald Trump presents Miriam Adelson, philanthropist and wife of billionaire Sheldon Adelson, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Cuban is entitled to his politics, and he is entitled to sell his team for top dollar. But it gets much harder to frame the deal as a moral regret after cashing the check. 

The Luka Dončić era ended, the franchise changed course, and Cuban was left publicly lamenting outcomes he no longer had the power to stop.

In the end, Cuban’s complaint sounds less like a crisis of conscience than a late realization that he no longer controls the franchise he once shaped in his own image. 

Cuban took the money and now seems eager to distance himself from the people he chose to empower.

Mark Cuban celebrates after a 124-103 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Five of the Western Conference Finals at Target Center on May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela