"Didn't think twice": Mark Cuban commends Kyrie Irving's philanthropic mindset citing recent donation to Indian basketball team
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made a lot of heads scratch when he traded for Kyrie Irving who had a very turbulent past with his former teams. Fast forward to today, the billionaire appeared on the "All The Smoke" podcast and expressed how he loves the eight-time NBA All-Star.
So far, so good for the Mavericks and Irving, as the team as of this writing is 9-5 and placed fourth in the NBA Western Conference standings.
Nourishing his relationship with Irving, Cuban bared how good of a person Irving is and does a lot of charitable actions with no cameras around:
"He [Kyrie] takes care of people and donates and does all sh*t and there's no cameras," said Cuban to podcast hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
A big proof of Irving's generosity was when Cuban wanted to help an Indian basketball team financially. Without hesitations, the former Duke Blue Devil was willing to split the donation:
"Like when somebody reached out to me and it was an Indian basketball team and they needed some money. I just texted him, Kai I'm putting in half, you want to cover the other half? He didn't think twice. It's just done," said Cuban.
WATCH: Mark Cuban's full interview with All The Smoke
Mark Cuban understands where Kyrie Irving is coming from
The first question that basketball fans come to mind when the Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving is how can he mesh with outspoken team owner Mark Cuban.
With already almost a year in since the trade, Cuban bares that he admires Irving even further and reiterates how he was able to understand his mind:
"His heart is always in the right place. Now, you might not agree with him all the time, there might be takes that he has that you're like, 'Ok, Ky. That's ok'. I told him on vaccines, we would have had an issue but hopefully, that never comes up again," said Cuban at the 7:35 mark.
But of course, the tech mogul had to draw the line and respect is the most important factor in their relationship as player-owner:
"As long as we respect each other, that's fine. I respect them not just his talent on the court but how we connect to people off the cord and how we connect to other players," Cuban added.
In 11 games into the 2023-24 NBA season, Kyrie Irving has been averaging 23.9 points, 6.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals.
With the way that Mark Cuban has been speaking about Kyrie Irving, it seems that the Dallas Mavericks are going to be the long-term home of the former NBA champion.