Mark Cuban is reportedly accusing Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont of intentionally excluding him from business opportunities related to the team's potential relocation, according to a recent newspaper report.
The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday that Cuban alleges Dumont has engaged in "adversarial business practices" as part of a bid to move the franchise approximately 10 miles north of downtown Dallas, to the former site of a local mall. Both a Mavericks spokeswoman and Cuban declined to comment on the allegations when contacted by The Associated Press.
The billionaire businessman divested his majority stake in the Mavericks in 2023, selling it to the families of Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont, Adelson's son-in-law.
Cuban claims he had an agreement to continue overseeing basketball operations, but alleges Dumont instead granted former general manager Nico Harrison full control of the team's basketball decisions.
The newspaper further reported that Cuban stated in the filing he was unaware of Harrison's plan to trade superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025 until it was too late to intervene. That trade reportedly backfired on the Mavericks, leading to Harrison's dismissal in November following the team's sluggish start to the 2025-26 season.
While Cuban retains a 27% ownership stake in the Mavericks, the newspaper noted a clause in the purchase agreement that allows the Adelson and Dumont families to acquire an additional 20% of his remaining shares.
Cuban's filing emerges just over a month after the Mavericks secured an option agreement to purchase approximately 104 acres in north Dallas, part of a broader plan to construct a new arena slated to open in 2031. The Mavericks' current lease at American Airlines Center is set to expire in 2031, and the team has been a downtown fixture since its inception as an expansion franchise in 1980.
Cuban asserts that his businesses were "contractually entitled to participate" in the move to the new site, which he describes in the filing as "a unique investment opportunity."
