Mark Cuban is not shy about being in the middle of a controversy. So given the opportunity to tweak the leader of the free world during the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday, he did not pass it up.
Mark Cuban wore No. 46 in the NBA Celebrity Game to tweak Donald Trump
Cuban is quite the provocateur, yet not much of a basketball player.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks franchise and star of Shark Tank, wore No. 46 during the game. That wasn’t a random choice: President Donald Trump, someone Cuban has sparred with repeatedly over the past year plus, is the 45th president of the United States. There has been talk of the Democratic Party recruiting Cuban to run opposite Trump in 2020. If that were to happen and Cuban were to win, he’d be the 46th president. Hence, No. 46 on the jersey.
Cuban acknowledged the connection after the game. From ESPN.com’s Ohm Youngmisuk:
He later said with a smile that the number choice was “to tweak the s--- out of everybody.”
“It was just to f--- with everybody, because that is what I do,” he said. “You’ve got to have fun with it. You can’t take it too seriously. So we’ll see.”
Earlier this week, President Trump tweeted that Cuban “is not smart enough to run for president.” Cuban campaigned heavily with Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 election and often criticized Trump’s policy positions and lack of transparency.
Cuban was scoreless in 17 minutes for the West team during the Celebrity Game on Friday. Fellow NBA franchise owner Marc Lasry, also a major Clinton supporter, scored nine points for the victorious East team.
See our 2017 NBA All-Star Weekend guide.
