"We would win running away" - Mark Cuban teases possibility of running for President in 2028 with 11x NBA All-Star

More than two decades ago, Mark Cuban entered the NBA scene by purchasing the Dallas Mavericks.

He invested $285 million and immediately became a hands-on, eccentric character, setting the bar high for other owners to follow his lead. He went the extra mile to turn his team into an appealing destination for free agents.

He is no longer in charge of the Mavericks, but he's still pretty close to many NBA figures, including Charles Barkley.

That's why, in his recent appearance on TNT's "The Steam Room," when talking about politics and the recent election, he claimed that he and Barkley could find success there:

"Yes, absolutely," Cuban said at the prospect of winning an election with Barkley as his running mate. "We would win running away." (14:00)

Cuban has been an outspoken critic of President-elect Donald Trump, and he believes someone who can talk to all kinds of people, such as Barkley, is what the country needs.

Mark Cuban talks about selling the Mavericks

Late in 2023, Cuban decided to sell his majority stake in the Mavericks. He got a staggering $3.5 billion from the Aldenson family -- business moguls from the casino industry.

Needless to say, it's been an adjustment period for him, given that he was such a hands-on owner. No longer being the guy in charge, he doesn't have all the perks he used to enjoy:

"The NBA got really, really, really petty and said that I can't sit behind the bench anymore,” he told Marc Stein. “The only time I feel any regret is when the NBA pisses me off. Maybe it would be different if we were losing and things weren't going well, but things are going well. It's nothing specific to the Mavs. I can't go into NBA meetings anymore and give them ---- for being petty.”

All in all, he still likes the direction the team is going, and while he would've done some things differently, the fact of the matter is that the Mavericks are winning:

“I'm not there making day-to-day decisions," the business mogul continued. "That's all Nico [Harrison, the Mavericks' General Manager]. That's just the way it's evolved. Honestly, is it exactly the way I expected it to be? No. But we're winning, and things are going well. I'm fine with it.”

Mark Cuban set the standard for other owners, and the NBA owes him a lot for that, even if he doesn't have a seat at the table anymore.