A war of words has broken out between Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban after Green took exception to use of the word ‘owner’ to describe the chairman of basketball teams.
Green has said that people in such positions should be called chairmen so as not to imply that they ‘own’ someone.
The comment came after owner of the Houston Texans football team Bob McNair’s commented that the NFL ‘can’t have inmates running the prison.’
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Draymond Green ‘owes the NBA an apology’ after suggesting in an Instagram post that the word ‘owners’ be banned from professional sports
Green wrote: ‘For starters, let’s stop using the word owner and maybe use the word Chairman. To be owned by someone just sets a bad precedent to start. It gives one the wrong mindset.’
McNair was discussing his frustration with the way the recent kneeling protests had affected the NFL’s business.
He made the statement during a recent owners meeting in New York, where he encouraged the league to take a hard stance against players who knee during the national anthem.
Mark Cuban is now demanding Green apologize for his comments saying that he deliberately skewed the meaning of the word ‘owner’.
‘For him to try to turn it into something it’s not is wrong,’ the Mavericks owner told ESPN.
Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, pictured, said that NFL owners allowing players to run the league, would be akin to ‘inmates running the prison’ which caused offense
Draymond Green wrote a rambling Instagram post where he put forward the idea that owners of teams should instead be called chairmen
‘He owes the NBA an apology because to try to create some connotation that owning equity in a company that you busted your ass for is the equivalent of ownership in terms of people, that’s just wrong. That’s just wrong in every which way.’
Green was one of many athletes who took to social media to express anger over McNair’s comment.
It’s not the first time Cuban has publicly aired his thoughts on Green. In April 2016, he called the Warriors forward a great player but not a franchise player
‘Let’s stop using the word owner and maybe use the word Chairman. To be owned by someone just sets a bad precedent to start. It sets the wrong tone. It gives one the wrong mindset,’ Green wrote in a rambling posting.
‘Webster states that an inmate is a person confined to an institution such as a prison or hospital. Not sure these tax paying men should be referred to as inmates- but what do I know?’ he continued.
Cuban was not impressed with Green’s rant and didn’t hold back.
‘People who read that message and misinterpret it — make it seem like we don’t do everything possible to help our players succeed and don’t care about their families and don’t care about their lives, like hopefully we do for all of our employees — that’s just wrong,’ Cuban said.
‘We own equity. We don’t own people. … I guess it’s because he went to Michigan State and didn’t take any business classes, but you own equity. When you own a team, you own equity, shares of stock. That’s called ownership. Tell him if he wants to take classes at Indiana’s business school, I’ll even pay for his classes and we’ll help him learn that stuff.’