Mark Cuban engages in "back and forth" on X with former Mavericks exec over platform's free speech policy: "It's only as free as Elon wants it to be"
Mark Cuban, minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and Haralabos Voulgaris, the team’s former director of quantitative research and development, engaged in a dialogue on X (formerly Twitter) to discuss the platform's free speech under Elon Musk’s ownership.
In an eight-tweet exchange, the two debated after Cuban questioned why his poll about US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, asking "whose persona and character would you prefer young children to emulate," garnered more votes than expected engagements, with Trump winning.
Cuban then suggested eliminating anonymous accounts on X, to which Voulgaris replied that this idea was dictatorial. After further discussion, Cuban claimed that X’s freedom is ultimately dictated by Musk.
“I know everyone thinks this platform is a bastion of free speech. I see the opposite,” he said. “It’s only as free as Elon wants it to be.”
“He can intimidate. He can alter the algorithm. He can suspend anyone he wants at any time. He is the ultimate arbiter of everything on here. And the biggest power play is him making everyone think their speech is free speech.”
Voulgaris suggested Cuban could explore other platforms like Threads and Reddit if he felt X didn’t align with his "ideological wheelhouse," to which Cuban responded that he could manage multiple social media platforms simultaneously. Cuban ended the exchange on a respectful note:
"And you know I always enjoy and respect our back and forth," he said.
Haralabos Voulgaris was once regarded as the second most influential person within Mark Cuban's Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks appointed Voulgaris as director of quantitative research and development on Oct. 4, 2018, drawing on his reputation as a professional bettor. He had no league experience but connected with Mark Cuban because of his basketball ideology.
According to The Athletic's Tim Cato and Sam Amick, Voulgaris earned Mark Cuban’s respect, as the former Mavericks owner had sought his basketball insights before officially hiring him.
“Mark Cuban is the most powerful person in the organization, but whoever he’s listening to is second,” an anonymous Mavericks employee told Cato and Amick.
Voulgaris envisioned the Mavericks adopting an analytics-focused spread pick-and-roll offense, centered around Luka Doncic.
However, over time, the relationship between Voulgaris and others in the Mavericks organization, including Doncic, deteriorated. Doncic reportedly had a shouting match with Voulgaris in February 2018 during a home game against the Golden State Warriors.
Voulgaris was reportedly functioning as a de facto second general manager, despite his official title, influencing the Mavericks’ 2020 NBA Draft picks of Josh Green and Tyrell Terry, and making roster decisions. People within the team started questioning his influence, and in June 2021, Voulgaris was dismissed from his role.