Mark Cuban on Mavs Re-Signing Kyrie Irving: ‘He is Misunderstood’

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban joined SiriusXM NBA radio to talk about his team re-signing Kyrie Irving to a long-term contract and why he thinks it will work.

When it comes to the Dallas Mavericks re-signing star point guard Kyrie Irving, most people's opinions fall on one extreme side of the scale or the other – either the Mavs got a really good deal by signing Irving to a three-year, $126 million contract, or they 'bid against themselves' and overpaid for a guy who might not make it the full length of his new deal.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban joined SiriusXM NBA radio on Tuesday with hosts Justin Termine and Frank Isola to explain why he believes Irving's tenure in Dallas will be much different than what transpired with his last two stops with the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics.

"No, Kyrie just loves basketball and loves going to games," Cuban said when asked about the speculation revolving around Irving attending Los Angeles Lakers playoff games ahead of free agency. "So, no, I wasn't concerned about that, but we traded for him because we wanted him to be a long-term piece."

Cuban then explained why he believes Irving is a good person and is just 'misunderstood' by many people. Irving has had some controversies in his past, but he's admitted that he's in a better place now, both mentally and spiritually, than he's been in a long time.

"I think Kyrie is just misunderstood," Cuban said. "Everyone sees all the noise and everything around him, but when you actually talk to him, I like him. He's open, he's smart, he's always looking to learn things. To me, he's an interesting guy that's just misunderstood."

Termine has long been a critic of Irving, and he wasn't a fan of the deal Dallas gave it's Luka Doncic co-star. After telling Cuban this, Termine asked him to explain why he things will go differently in Irving in Dallas than what happened in Brooklyn and Boston.

“It's interesting," Cuban said. "When I would watch Kyrie before he came to the Mavs, I didn't pay enough attention to his relationships with other players. Then when he came to us after the trade, it was inevitable after every game, there were multiple players walking up and hugging him – not just giving him a high-five, but like a real, honest-to-goodness, 'I like you' hug. And when you talk to players around them, they would say the same thing. And when you talk to our players after he got there, they'd say the same thing. They love the guy.

"So, it wasn't a question of his relationship with players. And then when you get into it more, as he matured, he's had different relationships with different organizations, which is why [Jason] Kidd and I made the effort to really get to know him."

"We traded for [Kyrie] because we wanted him to be a long-term piece"@mcuban tells @TheFrankIsola and @TermineRadio why the plan all along was to keep Kyrie with the @dallasmavs #MFFL pic.twitter.com/uzSqkRGkVe

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 11, 2023

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining Termine on SiriusXM NBA radio as well, and I was also asked about why I believed things would be different for Irving with the Mavs from how they were in his previous stops.

Cuban’s thoughts on this topic echoed mine, as I believe Irving has something in Dallas that he hasn't had at any other stop in his NBA career – good relationships and respect with someone at every level of the Mavs' franchise, including Cuban, GM Nico Harrison, Jason Kidd, Doncic and others. You can listen to that entire segment below.

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