DALLAS _ Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes with the climate laid down by President Donald Trump's administration, CEO's across America are in a very difficult spot.
Earlier this week during an interview with CNBC, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said Trump is an "asset' to the United States. After hearing that, Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry told the San Jose Mercury News: "I agree with the description, if you remove the 'et' from asset."
Curry is one of the top endorsers of Under Armour products and, as the winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player award the past two seasons, has mostly shied about from taking a political stance on any issues. But Cuban acknowledged that it was a bold move by Curry that had to be taken.
"I'm proud of Steph for standing up for what he believes in," Cuban said. "It's a tough situation for CEOs.
"You want to make nice with the president because you're a public company and you have shareholders, and it's hard to balance doing the right financial thing versus doing what they think is the right thing, whatever your political beliefs are. It's not an easy position to be in."
Cuban, though, has been on Twitter and on various television shows saying whatever he wants to say about President Trump and his administration without fear of repercussion. And why has the Mavericks' owner been able to get away with those critical comments?
"I'm different. I don't run a public company any more," Cuban said. "I can say 'I don't give a (expletive).' "
Cuban said he's not advising CEOs to just simply stay away from making public political statements, whether or not those statements align with President Trump.
"Do what you think is right," Cuban said. "Be an American citizen first.
"In the bigger scheme of things, our country benefits from peaceful activism a lot more than it benefits from one more shoe being sold, or one more basketball ticket being sold, for that matter. The people that say stay away from politics are the people that are looking for politics."
