Shark Tank Investor Mark Cuban reacts to the departure of Luka Doncic from the Mavericks

Shark Tank investor and Dallas Mavericks minor stakeholder Mark Cuban expressed his dismay in a roundabout way about the departure of Luka Doncic from the Mavericks.

Cuban showed immense confidence in Luka Doncic when he was a major shareholder of the Mavericks. Given a choice between his wife and Luka, Cuban humorously said he would take no time to visit a lawyer's office, as reported by CNBC's Becky Quick.

However, as the Mavericks undergo this trade where Luka Doncic debuted in the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, Mark Cuban could not restrict his reaction. In a recent meet-up with the billionaire Bill Gates, who visited Dallas for his book tour, Mark Cuban used a Microsoft analogy to draw parallels between Maverick's trade-off of Luka Doncic and the Lakers.

The trade also sent Anthony Davis from Lakers to Mavericks as a part of the trade. The fans of the Mavericks, along with the former owner, Cuban, did not appreciate this trade-off much, and it has left both fans and him blindsided.

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Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban asked a rhetorical question to Bill Gates while hinting at the recent trade-off of Luka Doncic

Mark Cuban joined Bill Gates for the latter's book tour, Source Code: My Beginnings in Dallas. The former Mavericks owner asked Bill Gates a rhetorical question about the time when he stepped down as the CEO of Microsoft and Steve Ballmer took the position as the new CEO.

The question drew an analogy between trading off the superior Windows 11 version with Windows 10 by Gates' successor Ballmer after he left with Luka Doncic's trade-off to the Lakers. During his conversation with Bill Gates, the Shark Tank mentor posed a question, admitting he "had a rough week" and said:

"If, after leaving Microsoft, you found out that Steve Ballmer swapped Windows 11, the new hot OS of the moment, for Windows 10, the Hall of Fame OS, but older, what would you do?"

Immediately, Mark raised the question, and the audience understood the analogy and laughed. The billionaire Bill Gates, understanding where the question was coming from, replied jokingly:

"I might have to hide from the press."

Mark Cuban responded with a dig at new majority shareholder Patrick Dumont and general manager Nico Harrison, saying, "I know a couple of people that are in that situation." The press reports suggested that Mark Cuban tried to convince Dumont and Harrison to stop the trade-off, but as the fans know, it did not help.

The American reporter and Substack Inside, Marc Stein, reportedly remarked about Cuban trying to stop the Luka Doncic departure. Stein stated that Mark was never consulted by Dumont, and when he tried to get in touch with Harrison, the deal was made. Stein stated:

"By the time Cuban found out about the Luka-for-AD trade, it was too late. The deal was already sealed with the Lakers with a verbal handshake"

Shark Tank's Mark Cuban let go of the majority shareholding of the Dallas Mavericks in November 2023. However, he still owns a minor stake in the Mavericks, but it couldn't help him retain his star player, Luka Doncic, from departing to the Lakers.

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Mark Cuban is one of the main investors on Shark Tank Season 16, which will also mark his last season on the show.