Mark Cuban is right — some Lakers fans can get really touchy and defensive. Trust me, I had a Lakers blog for years and trying to have a smart, thoughtful conversation about the team can be challenging at time because some fans are zealots about the team beyond the point of rationality.
A few weeks back Cuban was talking about the NBA’s increasing salary cap and used the Lakers amnestying Kobe Bryant as an example (Kobe will make $30 million next season). Rational people knew what he was doing, talking about cap impact — he went on to say the Lakers wouldn’t amnesty Kobe for the same reasons he would never amnesty Dirk Nowitizki — but it blew up and became a thing. A thing to the point the Lakers responded to something that didn’t need responding to.
Kobe responded by dropping 38 on the Mavericks then tweeting “amnesty that!” That’s the real danger of talking about Kobe, he takes it out on you on the court.
Cuban was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Leno asked him about that and Cuban, on threat of a fine from the league, was having no part of it. But he’s right on about “twitter courage” and in a broader sense how the anonymity of the Internet allows people to be a******* without consequence.