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Cuban Says No to Kobe
By Daniel Dessinger | November 1, 2007
Listening to 103.3FM ESPN this morning, the ESPN SportsCenter update tells us that Mark Cuban has officially said that the Mavericks will NOT be pursuing Kobe Bryant any further. According to ESPN, Cuban said “The price is too high.” One can only assume that Cuban’s referring to the number and quality of players the Mavericks would have to part with in order to gain the superstar.
Sadly, this means that no national media attention will be focused on the Mavericks until the end of regular season play. Yet another disappointment, after the Dallas Cowboys lost to New England a few weeks ago and thus the national hype over the team died down to a dull murmur.
In a normal year, I would be satisfied with the Mavs’ stellar talent and offseason acquisitions (Juwan Howard, Eddie Jones, Brandon Bass, etc). But this year is unique in that Kobe Bryant, the famous and infamous, wants out of Los Angeles. Any other year, I’d be satisfied with what we have. But the grass is ALWAYS greener, and Kobe looks pretty good to a team that folded in the playoffs two years in a row.
Could Mark Cuban’s statement be a ploy to see how Jerry Buss might adjust his demands? Anything’s possible. But likely? Not even close. The Mavs do like the team they’ve assembled, and they’d have to get a good deal on Kobe to switch it up during the season.
So grieve the loss if you must, as I will, and get ready to watch the season with as much enthusiasm as you can muster. On the bright side of things, the Mavs do look stronger than they have the last two season openers. This is a team with a deep bench, and some serious improvements are expected from Devin Harris, Josh Howard, and Gana Diop.
Take your time dealing with disappointment. Kobe would have been fun. Someone should write a song about the trade falling through and send it in to Randy (Galloway on ESPN radio). He does love him some sports ballad!
Topics: Mark Cuban, Trade Talk |
November 1st, 2007 at 10:07 am
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