Maybe you saw the Mavs blow out the Knicks last night; if not, it was a typical Dallas 'dozer, 92-77 over a catastrophucked NY team somehow still in the playoff hunt at 30-37. Which puts Your Dallas Mavericks at 55 wins for the season thus far; most NBA franchises won't be able to count that high come late spring. Accompanying The New York Times's recapping of the knee-capping at the Madison Square Garden last night is Selena Roberts' column comparing and contrasting Mark Cuban with his cross-court counterpart last night, Knicks owner James Dolan. Too bad the piece is part of the Times Select pay-for package; it's a nice read. Here's the summary:
Cuban's a self-made billionaire, hard-workin' son of an auto upholsterer; Dolan got his dough from his Cablevision-owning pops, who spoiled little Jimmy rotten. Cuban rewards his team for its hard work; Dolan hires and fires just to fuck with people. Cuban shows up to games in jeans and T-shirts and sits behind the bench to root on his team; Dolan didn't even show last night, but when he does, he's known to yell at employees when they serve him a flat soft drink.
"Dolan is an emotional spender, an investor in fool's gold," Roberts writes. "The Mavericks earn every amenity, every dime, with results... Cuban uses his wealth to forge a vision. Dolan wields it as a tool of vengeance... Cuban versus Dolan, billionaire versus billionaire, meritocracy versus entitlement. The reflection of each man is in the standings." --Robert Wilonsky
