Maybe if Mark Cuban had spent more time paying attention to his Dallas Mavericks instead of shilling for an octogenarian politician, it would be Mavs stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy on Tuesday instead of the Boston Celtics.
(Yes, this author is a bitter and annoyed Mavs fan.)
Alas, while the Mavericks were being humbled in a five-game NBA Finals beatdown, Cuban — whose exact association with the Mavs is murky, but more on that later — seemed to have his attention anywhere but helping his squad lock in for the Finals.
Take, for instance, this embarrassing X post just a day before a lopsided and series-clinching Celtics Game 5 win on Monday:
You guys both, @piersmorgan, @BillAckman, are so consumed with pandering to your twitter followers, you have lost all objectivity.
I’ll let you both in on a secret.
BOTH CANDIDATES ARE OLD. VERY OLD.
They both are going to have senior moments, mis-remember, forget… https://t.co/TVGpEDTGt4
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 17, 2024
Cuban, butting into a conversation he wasn’t a part of, chided British news personality Piers Morgan and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman for daring to bring up the very real problem of President Joe Biden’s clear cognitive decline.
“You guys both, @piersmorgan @BillAckman, are so consumed with pandering to your twitter followers, you have lost all objectivity,” he began in response to posts by Ackman and Morgan.
The latter had shared a video from a Saturday night fundraiser that clearly showed the 81-year-old president confused and unaware of what to do:
That’s a wrap on record-setting Democratic fundraiser for Joe Biden’s reelection campaign (netting $28M). Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden offer final waves to Peacock Theater crowd as Obama then grabs Biden’s hand to lead him offstage following 40-minute… pic.twitter.com/xbE2jf3jdz
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) June 16, 2024
Morgan and Ackman, in their respective posts, both effectively asked how Democrats could be OK with letting such a doddering old man be the public face of their party. It’s a real problem for Democrats, and it’s a more than fair question.
Cuban, however, thought that the two were glossing over the fact that Biden’s chief political rival — presumptive GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump — is just three years younger than Biden.
“I’ll let you both in on a secret,” he continued. “BOTH CANDIDATES ARE OLD. VERY OLD. They both are going to have senior moments, mis-remember, forget things and have physical frailties.
“I’ll tell you a not so secret secret: One is great at soundbites, but also thinks in soundbites. The other is awful at soundbites, but thinks in complete sentences.
“Voters will decide which we prefer.”
The fallacy with Cuban’s point is rather evident: You can’t gauge what or how someone “thinks.” So while his lame attempt at mimicking Confucius sounds like a deep thought, it’s not.
What he did offer, however, are two facts.
One, yes, Trump is old, too. He will be the oldest man to ever be inaugurated should he win in November.
The second fact, however, nullifies the point of the first fact.
You can dismiss Cuban’s musings on how each man thinks, but he’s right that Trump offers typically great soundbites while Biden is awful at them.
Whether the “Shark Tank” star likes it or not, those sorts of optics matter — especially when the incumbent doesn’t exactly have a towering and healthy economy to point to.
Has Mark Cuban lost all credibility?
Cuban also was being wildly disingenuous.
Yes, technically Trump is not that much younger than Biden (the age gap is certainly not a thing serious Republicans should be bragging about and makes Cuban all the bigger dolt for even bringing up this comparison). But the former president is light years apart from the current one when it comes to even just the ability to maintain the facade of attentiveness.
It’s no contest.
Cuban was rightfully roasted for his remarks.
“Stop embarrassing yourself, Mark,” Australian pundit Rita Panahi said.
Stop embarrassing yourself, Mark.
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) June 17, 2024
“What you’re saying has no correlation to reality and your first sentence is projection,” conservative content creator Allie Beth Stuckey posted.
What you’re saying has no correlation to reality and your first sentence is projection
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) June 17, 2024
Now, in one possible bit of fairness to Cuban’s whataboutism: He might have had a lot of time to think of those deep-sounding thoughts because his role with the Mavericks is … minimal.
According to ESPN, Cuban, “despite his claims after selling the majority share of the franchise midseason to the Adelson and Dumont families, no longer has control of basketball operations.”
That could explain an uptick in his non-Mavericks-related social media ramblings lately — but it doesn’t make his ramblings any more coherent or accurate.
