| | DALLAS -- Ross Perot Jr. originally had no intention of
selling the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban changed his mind.
Perot, admittedly unsavvy about basketball when he bought
controlling interest in the NBA franchise less than four years ago,
has grown in enthusiasm and knowledge over the years. That's why
when he finally decided to sell the club earlier this month, it was
to Cuban, a longtime Mavericks fan.
"I wasn't interested in selling until I started being around
Mark Cuban," said Perot, who consummated the deal with a hug
during a news conference Thursday at the site of the Mavericks'
future home, the American Airlines Center. "It wasn't a question
of money. It's the person. I was not going to sell this team to
someone who didn't love this city and love this team. Mark Cuban is
the perfect owner."
Cuban's purchase of majority share and controlling interest in the team for $280 million had been public since Jan. 4, but
Thursday was the first formal announcement of the deal. Official
transfer of ownership awaits approval by the rest of the NBA's
owners, which is expected to occur sometime in mid-February.
Cuban came to Dallas in 1982 and a year later started
MicroSolutions, which became one of the nation's leading systems
integration firms.
In 1995 Cuban started Broadcast.com, which developed a way for followers of virtually any college or professional team to pick up their broadcasts over the Internet. Yahoo bought Broadcast.com last summer for about $6 billion. The Wall Street Journal estimated
Cuban's stake at $1.5 billion.
Since word of the sale, Cuban has created a buzz around the team and Reunion Arena with his unbridled enthusiasm. An avid fan since 1982, Cuban's main goal as owner is to turn the team with the NBA's worst winning percentage in the 1990s into a championship-caliber team in the next millennium.
"This shows that dreams can come true," said Cuban, who was a Mavericks season-ticket holder before buying the team. "I've been through the ups, I've been through the downs, I've been through the Reunion 'Rowdies' and I've been through being just one of the few
people in the crowd. I will give every ounce of the energy I
possess to turn this team into a winning team."
Cuban said his exact stake in the team has not been set and will be determined by how much the remaining minority owners keep. Perot will remain a part of the ownership group and estimated his stake will be between 5 and 15 percent.
Perot bought the franchise from Mavericks founder Donald Carter for $125 million in 1996. He will continue to lead development and construction of the new arena.
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