On occasion of Caron Butler's season-ending injury a few days ago, reporters asked Lakers coach Phil Jackson for his thoughts. Given that Butler's Dallas Mavericks are considered one of the top challengers to the Lakers' three-year Western reign, this is a completely expected and normal line of discourse.
Mark Cuban Calls Phil Jackson Jeanie Buss’ Boy Toy, Might Be 13 Years Old
Jackson responded that Butler’s absence leaves a void for the Mavericks to fill. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, obviously frustrated at his team’s poor fortune, lashed out. Mark Cuban being Mark Cuban, he came off like a 12-year-old kid in doing so. From the Dallas Morning News:
“I love that Jeanie Buss’ boy toy had something to say about us,” Cuban said of Jackson, who dates the Lakers’ owner’s daughter. “I don’t know if it was his thought or Jeanie’s thought, but it’s nice to know she lets him speak in public about other teams.”
First of all, this line of humor doesn't even make sense. Jackson always criticizes other teams. It's kinda his thing. He said the Rockets' championships in the '90s shouldn't count because Michael Jordan had retired. He discounted the Spurs' first title because it came in the lockout-shortened 1999 season. He chirped about Erik Spoelstra's job security. I mean, if someone told you that an NBA head coach criticized another team publicly, your first guess had better be Phil Jackson. Otherwise, you just aren't paying attention.
So the actual substance of Cuban’s ha-ha is lame. But the tone? That is remarkable in its childishness. Upon reading the quotes, I half-expected them to be followed with a request for an ice cream cake and two quarters for the Area 51 machine. (Hey, can I get two quarters for Area 51? That game was dope.)
Excluding Dan Gilbert’s Comic Sans rant and Jim Irsay’s Twitter feed, has any pro sports team owner ever come off this juvenile? Jackson’s a fair target -- he’s a curmudgeon of the highest order, and can be a real prig to his contemporaries. But Cuban’s act is just frat enough to come off completely the wrong way. And of course, it’s not the first time he’s acted beneath his status, and it probably won’t be the last.
(That said, there are things worse than juvenile and unfunny personal attacks. Like Mark Cuban’s fashion sense! Oh wait ...)
/universe implodes
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