Mark Cuban wants to handpick who gets access to Mavericks' information...

[Kingspoint]

Cuban wants to ban online, less biased (he wants them to be biased towards the Mavericks), reporters:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/1...on-many-levels

The most obvious flaw in Cuban's suggestion that he has the power to restrict access for independent, online media and replace them with his own reporters is, quite simply, that he does not have such power. Why? Because the Mavs, which he repeatedly referred to in the CNN interview as "my business," are not his business. Cuban is a willing partner in a cartel of 30 businesses known as the NBA, which enjoys, among other competitive advantages, partial exemption from U.S. antitrust law.

The Mavs would not exist without the NBA and Cuban's 29 partners, and wouldn't make much money without the federal exemption that allows NBA teams to pool television rights on network TV without antitrust scrutiny. Cuban has agreed to abide by anti-free market rules like this and others, such as the salary cap and revenue sharing, to enjoy the many benefits of owning a professional sports team.

[Unassisted]

It's curious that someone who made his billions in new media wants to curtail the access of people who work in media. Maybe one of those media folks can buttonhole him about that paradox?

And as a Spurs fan, I would also suggest that if Mr. Cuban's team were better that there might be less bad news to contain.

[dougdirt]

Is there a specific incident that fueled this?

[Kingspoint]

Is there a specific incident that fueled this?

Good question.

I can't think of one.

But, I'm sure that he thinks the media is partly responsible for why everyone sees the Dallas Mavericks as "the team you want to play in the 1st Round" instead of the Spurs, Lakers, or Thunder. It couldn't possibly be their 1st Round exits in 3 of the last 4 years.

[dougdirt]

Good question.

I can't think of one.

But, I'm sure that he thinks the media is partly responsible for why everyone sees the Dallas Mavericks as "the team you want to play in the 1st Round" instead of the Spurs, Lakers, or Thunder. It couldn't possibly be their 1st Round exits in 3 of the last 4 years.

Well, I just ask that because it seems that outside of a few places, asking tough questions will get you in trouble with the team. Think Bengals last season and the writer who all of a sudden was no longer covering them after an incident with Marvin Lewis. With online media, depending on the situation, some of these guys are their own boss, so you can't go above their head to their boss to complain and get them removed or reprimanded if you don't like what they are doing. Your option is to limit them to their access.

That is just me talking out loud though, because I don't really know where the whole thing came from.

[Kingspoint]

Well, I just ask that because it seems that outside of a few places, asking tough questions will get you in trouble with the team. Think Bengals last season and the writer who all of a sudden was no longer covering them after an incident with Marvin Lewis. With online media, depending on the situation, some of these guys are their own boss, so you can't go above their head to their boss to complain and get them removed or reprimanded if you don't like what they are doing. Your option is to limit them to their access.

That is just me talking out loud though, because I don't really know where the whole thing came from.

You're probably right. Because when it comes to asking pertinent, "tough" questions, it always comes back around to questioning the decision-making of the owner. I've yet to find an owner that likes it and hasn't at one time or another gotten a reporter banned for a while, if not permanently. The same goes for political news conferences.

Online is the last, true freedom of speech venue.

[KoryMac5]

The only incident I know of was when a blogger for the Dallas Morning News reported a few years back that Jerry Stackhouse was unhappy with his role in Dallas. The blogger Tim MacMahon had quotes from Jerry that supposedly he took directly from Stackhouse in an interview. Problem was he had never spoken to Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse was pretty upset and Cuban banned bloggers from the Mavs for a day.

I have to think this goes deeper than that though. Cuban loves control and promotion of his products. I have to think he is angling to somehow tie in HD Net with Mavs coverage. Only way to get it off the ground would be to limit the competition. Stern will shoot the idea of Cuban limiting coverage down rather quickly.

[Kingspoint]

Personally, I love the guy. I wish more owners were like him. But, he's obviously way off base on this one.