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Mark Cuban calls championship argument for validating players ‘the stupid, macho element’ of sports

Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki

If you’re a passionate NBA fan who likes to discuss the game with others, then invariably you’ve heard (but hopefully not given) this response when comparing one player’s impact to that of another.

“Oh yeah? Who has more championships?”

It’s become known mockingly as the “COUNT DA RINGZ” defense, used most often when comparing the skills of say, Kobe Bryant (who has five of them) to those of somebody else.

It’s ridiculous to a point, because there are so many more factors that go into winning championships in any professional sport, and especially in basketball, where the best teams usually require a minimum of two, but sometimes three or four superstar-level performances over the course of a postseason to accomplish that ultimate goal.

Mark Cuban, being one of the most involved owners the NBA has, knows this perhaps better than anyone.

The Mavericks have had Dirk Nowitzki playing at the level of the league’s elite for the majority of his 14 seasons in Dallas, but he was never recognized to be as great as he was by many thanks to the ring being the thing as far as most fans are concerned.

Cuban answered questions on Reddit on Monday, and this was one that came up. He delivered the following thoughtful response (sic, via USA Today):

Question: Why do basketball players only get recognition after they’ve been a part of a championship team? For instance, Dirk has been an amazing player for 10 years now, but only got the respect he truly deserved from fans after having a championship caliber supporting cast (Including coaches) around him. If it’s a team game, why do players only get appreciated after they accomplish something that’s mostly out of their control (Since, most of the time, they don’t decide who they get to play with)?

Cuban: Thats the stupid , macho element of all professional sports. Its a lot easier to just pin a lable on someone than to actually do the work to determine the impact of a player. ITs the same reason everyone over values scoring in the NBA. Scoring is usually the easiest part of the game.


Laser-accurate response from Cuban, there.

Nowitzki is one of the greatest players of his era -- as much for his unique skill set given his seven-foot tall frame, as well as for how much he’s proven to be capable of dominating over the years.

Thankfully, he got his championship ring with an incredible postseason run in 2011, so those more casual fans officially don’t have this silly argument to use when trying to diminish Nowitzki’s career in a poor attempt to compare All-Star talent.

But it shouldn’t ever come to that, at least from an intelligent fan of the game. And Cuban recognizes that.