The usual knock on Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is that he can be a little passionate at games when cheering on his team. The billionaire found himself in a tough spot this week after he inadvertently offended the Trayvon Martin family, for which he has since apologized.
Cuban, who has been one of the few NBA team owners to speak about the Donald Sterling affair, has been clear that racism has no place in the league. In a video interview with Inc. magazine, Cuban attempted to capture the specter of racism but did so in ham-handed fashion.
From the Inc. interview:
“If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it’s late at night, I’m walking to the other side of the street. And if on that side of the street, there’s a guy that has tattoos all over his face – white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere –I’m walking back to the other side of the street. And the list goes on of stereotypes that we all live up to and are fearful of.”
Cuban tried to clean up his point later in the interview, using that portion of the interview to detail his larger point that everyone battles with the prejudice inside themselves. Cuban went on to say that he’s “not perfect” and thinks that instead of blasting someone for their bigotry, he suggests sensitivity training and other methods instead.
Cuban defended his remarks all day Thursday on Twitter, but did apologize for the quip about the Black kid in a hoodie. Cuban still stuck to the core portion of the message, saying in a series of tweets, “In hindsight I should have used different examples. I didn’t consider the Trayvon Martin family, and I apologize to them for that. [B]eyond apologizing to the Martin family, I stand by the words and substance of the interview.”
Cuban has gone on record saying that Sterling’s remarks were indeed offensive but that booting him from the NBA is a questionable move by the brass.
Watch Cuban’s Inc. interview below.
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Photo: Judy Eddy/WENN
