[ESPN] Cuban: "Players and owners should get together and create our own World Cup of Basketball"

Cuban is compensated. He's just a greedy turd. You don't think Cuban makes money off his nba team? Does the nba sell jerseys in china? Do they sell broadcast rights in Europe? Don't feel bad for Mark Cuban, he's doing just fine. Just like Donald sterling is doing just fine selling his nba franchise for two billion dollars.

Nba teams have a risk that a player can get injured. So what. Buy some insurance. He could also be injured practicing. Is he not supposed to practice in the offseason? Playing on the national team makes these stars better, not worse. There is always a risk of injury.

This is about nothing more than Cuban being greedy and wanting more money. He sold broadcast.com to yahoo, a worthless company for lots of money. He's a schister with an angle always. He is compensated for the risk of injury, he just wants more compensation. Greed.

Has the nba folded because Paul,George got hurt? I don't think so. Donald sterling and mark Cuban are doing just fine, even though they are royal a holes.

 

Is anyone forcing players to play for the national team? No?

 

China is not in this tournament thus the numbers will be WAY down.

Outside of the US, this tournament just doesn't get traction. Not to mention its competing with the start of the soccer season in Europe.

 

We've always know as being a greedy and selfish attention w****

And now he's taking advantage of someone's tragedy to get some airtime? And for what? To pimp out his new potential cash cow?

 

Lol, usually this argument follows a different script consisting of angry nonamericans grousing that the Olympics isn't as important as the Worlds.

Now that the US is dominating both, neither of them matters apparently. Hee hee

People watch stupid international basketball and make money off of it. NBC spends hundreds of millions to broadcast it.

Your thesis that there would there is no commercial demand for international basketball is invalid on its face.

Perhaps you should move on to less inherently doomed speculation.

 

the only sport where the olympics isnt more important than the worlds is football/soccer

 

The Eurobasket final between Spain & France in 2011 was watched by 4.73 million people. This years Euroleague basketball final attracted 4 million viewers. Compare that to other finals in say the Rugby World Cup which had 6 million viewers in the UK alone. 160 million people watched the Champions league final. Again, outside of China & the US, global basketball doesn't attract big massive audiences, try and prove me wrong with facts that this is a big global deal.

 

4.73 was the average for Spain, not total, that's about 1/10th of their population. The nba hasn't reached 1/10th of the US population for the nba finals since Jordan.

 

I don't need to prove you wrong - in order to save face, you have shifted your argument from "nobody is interested in watching international basketball tournaments" - obviously a dumb thing to say- to "champions League final is more popular"

The admission is self evident. Move on.

 

You can not stop a player from playing pick up games...ie rec leagues etc.
You can not tell a foreign player not to play for his home country.
You can not stop players from doing risky activities during the course of the summer..ie motorcycle, jetski's etc.

This was a total freak accident, but anytime you play a sport at any level...there is always inherent risk of injury. NBA owners knew this risk when deciding to invest money on athletes. It obviously hurts more b/c there are millions of dollars invested in players.

Some organizations deserve to split some of the financial risk ie. FIBA, but where would the level of control stop?

 

Just let Cuban control everything. Sounds fair.

 

That's why insurance exists.

 

If there is no money to be made in world cup basketball, why does Mark Cuban want a cut and to cut out FIBA? Your post is silly. There is money in it. And the NBA is very much interested in growth and more dollars from other countries.

 

Cuban wants a share of the money for whatever an NBA player does. He thinks he owns his players on and off NBA courts. He is a greedy pig. Always has been.

 

Let's be honest, this is 100% about money. This isn't about 'risk' to the players during the NBA season. If it was, Cuban wouldn't be talking about a World Cup. Similarly, international play brings significant benefits to the NBA as a whole. Players like Nowitzki, Parker and Ginobili don't exist without the 1992 Dream Team.

Nowitzki himself said that he was playing handball and tennis until the 1992 dream team motivated him to drop both sports and instead focus on Basketball. The dream team and Olympic participation motivated numerous countries to invest money in their basketball programs, including the Racing Club in France where Parker and Diaw honed their games.

As for Cuban's comments regarding the IOC making it about patriotism, that is revisionist history at its worst. The IOC didn't make it about patriotism... Germany in 1932 made it about Patriotism when they decided to use the Olympics as a means to demonstrate the superiority of the "Ubermensche" -- the Aryan Superman. The USSR and China made it about patriotism when they decided to use it as an international platform for the superiority of the Communist systems. And the USA made it about patriotism when they invested Billions in their quest for winning Medals and establishing sporting dominance in numerous sports.

The IOC didn't create this... the current IOC as an organization is a response to the never ending well of Patriotic and Nationalistic fervor by the nations of the world. Make something big enough and the money follows. Make the money large enough and corruption will follow. The problem isn't that the IOC is corrupt (most large organizations with large amounts of money are), the problem is that there isn't enough focus on reforming and addressing the corruption within the IOC.

The Athletes aren't corrupt. In numerous sports the world's most Elite athletes train tirelessly, with little compensation, for the chance to "represent" their countries. Most of them will take home a medal, but make very little from their efforts other than the pride that they competed with the best in the World in their sports.

How many rich Pole Vaulters and Shot Putters do you know? How many diving Millionaires are there after the Olympics? How many wrestlers and weight lifters go on to cash in on their efforts? How many marathon runners earn more than they spend on their travel and training?

In spite of the questionable motives of the IOC and the various competing nations, the Olympics are the closest thing to a pure "competition" free of financial motivation that exists on this planet.

I get that Cuban wants more control... he wants the game under the control of the NBA and international basketball clubs. However, one thing he's not considering is the sheer reach of the Olympics. The Olympics is literally watched by Billions in countries around the world. It is hands down the largest sporting event in the World, that reaches parts of the world that few other events can or ever do reach.

Could a NBA driven World Cup be successful? Sure... but it wouldn't have the reach, prestige or impact of a single Olympics. If it ever could rise to the level of the FIFA World Cup in Soccer, it would literally take decades. Possible? Sure. Any time soon as long as there is such a disparity of talent between the NBA and the International Leagues? Not any time soon.

Jason Whitlock wrote an interesting piece during the 2012 Olympics talking about these very issues... it's well balanced and addresses the issues from numerous sides. It's a good read and might help add some nuance to this discussion.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/...d/8219221/2012-olympics-why-nba-bail-olympics

Just some stuff to think about.

 

tldnr

 

What if Cuban knew Parsons wouldn't make the final roster so to save face he's trying to make this into a "I don't want my players getting hurt" scenario?

Especially after dubbing him a star.

 

plus a healthy leg

 

Follow the $$$$ tree and you will see Cuban swinging from a branch.

DD