Outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has hit the FIBA anew following the gruesome leg fracture injury that Indiana Pacers superstar Paul George sustained on Friday night while playing in a U.S. national team scrimmage.
Cuban is known as the most vocal critic of international basketball, and again he questioned the wisdom of NBA teams allowing their best players to play for their national teams while taking the financial risk in case of injuries.
According to ESPN.com, Cuban feels sorry for George but criticized the league's agreement with FIBA that says only players can refuse to play for their national teams except for reasonable medical concerns.
He told ESPN: "The (International Olympic Committee) is playing the NBA. The IOC is an organization that has been rife with corruption, to the point where a member was accused of trying to fix an Olympic event in Salt Lake. The IOC (pulls in) billions of dollars. They make a killing and make Tony Soprano look like a saint."
Cuban also proposes that NBA players and owners get together and establish their own World Cup of Basketball. He added: "The greatest trick ever played was the IOC convincing the world that the Olympics were about patriotism and national pride instead of money."
Cuban knows what he's talking about, because he's seen his star player Dirk Nowitzki play in international competitions during NBA off-seasons.
He also said that compared to other sports, the Olympics and the World Cup are not as important as they are perceived to be. "For some sports the Olympics are very, very important. For basketball, it's meaningless. "
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