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. However, he will not shift his focus to the political arena, despite speculation following the agreement.
Cuban wrote in an email obtained by CNBC on Wednesday that he has “no plans” to run for president in 2024.
In addition to selling his controlling interest in the Mavericks, Cuban also recently announced that he would be stepping down from his role on the long-running business show Shark Tank, on which he has appeared for over a decade. With the two big moves coming in quick succession and less than a year until the 2024 election, it’s easy to see how social media has been thrown into a frenzy.
Especially given Cuba’s extreme wealth and past political activities. Most notably, he considered a presidential run in 2020, even going so far as to hire a pollster to assess his favorability. He would have stood as an independent candidate, but ultimately decided against it as his prospects were too slim and it would have caused stress for his family.
“My family voted against it,” Cuban told CNN. “Otherwise I would have done it.”
It’s clear Cuban had no interest in testing these waters again. If this unique sale goes through as he hoped, he will definitely still have his hands full running the Mavericks’ basketball operations. Here’s Marc Stein, who first broke the news of the sale in his recent newsletter:
Still, Cuban continues to watch most games, home and away, from a seat as close to the Mavericks’ bench as possible, sits in the heart of the team’s war room on draft night and participates in many, many more basketball operations an active role in decisions than not. His focus in recent years has been almost exclusively on basketball.
According to league sources, he is committed to serving as a very active partner with the Adelsons on the basketball front, happily allowing them to focus on the pursuit of TV money, real estate revenue for the franchise and their continued efforts to lobby Texas lawmakers to take, focus on the legalization of gambling, etc.
There is still a lot to be resolved regarding Cuban’s sale and exactly how much control he will have within the organization once the sale is completed. But one thing is clear: Cuban is focused on basketball, not politics.