Mark Cuban sent shockwaves through the NBA world on Tuesday when he agreed to sell a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson family at a franchise valuation of $3.5 billion. He is not, however, going to shift his focus to the political arena, despite speculation in the wake of the agreement.
Reached by CNBC on Wednesday, Cuban wrote in an email that he has "no plans" to run for president in 2024.
In addition to selling his majority stake in the Mavericks, Cuban also recently announced that he would be stepping down from his role on the long-running business show "Shark Tank," which he has been a part of for over a decade. With the two major moves coming in quick succession, and less than a year until the 2024 election, it's easy to see how social media started swirling.
Especially considering Cuban's extreme wealth and his previous political activity. Most notably, he considered a presidential campaign in 2020 and even went so far as to hire a pollster to gauge his favorability. He would have run as an independent but ultimately decided against it due to his long-shot odds and the stress it would have caused his family.
"My family voted it down," Cuban told CNN. "Otherwise, I would have."
It's clear Cuban wasn't interested in testing those waters again. In any case, if this unique sale comes to fruition in the way he hopes, he'll still have his hands full running the Mavericks' basketball operations. Here's Marc Stein, who first broke news of the sale, in his most recent newsletter:
Yet Cuban continues to watch most games, home and road, from a seat in the closest possible proximity to the Mavericks' bench, sit at the heart of the team's war room on draft night and take an active role in many, many more basketball operations decisions than not. His focus in recent years has been placed almost exclusively on the basketball side.
League sources say he is determined to operate as a very active partner to the Adelsons on the basketball front while happily letting them focus on the pursuit of TV money, real-estate plays for the franchise, their continued efforts to lobby Texas lawmakers to legalize gambling, etc.
There's still plenty to be sorted out regarding Cuban's sale, and exactly how much control he'll have within the organization once it's finalized. One thing that's clear, though, is that Cuban is focused on basketball, not politics.
