You know, Jeff.

Jeff, I know you've been up to some stuff.

What?

What have you guys been up to in 2020?

What you guys been doing?

May not a You know what you know NBA season gets can.

Then it comes back and shark tank and kids and Pandemic, You know, 2020 2020.

Man.

How can you even describe it?

Well, Jeff and I were talking before the show about how you know Jeff.

Remember that clip where more mark was all just shocked?

When when?

When When Kobe hit and you shut down.

He's mortified.

He's like, but I can't watch my mavs.

Yeah, no, but I was shocked.

I mean, it was just, like, so backstory to that before the game.

You know, people were talking, or we're gonna have to cancel or they're gonna shut down games.

And the players were curious.

And so I walked into the locker room and I'm like, guys, I don't know, You know, if we walk out there and there's a big crowd, maybe it's better than we think.

And Luca says, you know, Mark, I'm here in in Europe, they're shutting things down.

Are we gonna shut the season down?

I'm like I'm like Luca.

Probably 5 10% chance that way.

Postpone or shut the season down Third quarter of the game against the Nuggets.

Bam!

I get the text and I was shocked, right?

And you could just see it on my face.

I was like, What the hell, you know?

And like everybody else, I was like, I had no idea what was going to come next.

I'd love to play poker with Mark Cuban.

Oh, yeah, I'm awful of focus.

I'm like, you know, it's just like, here's my card.

Let me write my cards down or I'll just I'll just put my my forehead.

Well, what?

One of the things that I thought was really cool, you know, that you were able to do and you really supported just your staff and everybody that worked, you know, for the Mavs and everything else.

I was really inspired by that.

You know what you know, and we kind of laughed and joked and also being serious about the billionaire thing and be able to make an impact.

But you know, to be honestly, a lot of owners and sports.

They're not really involved with the community as much.

They're not really involved in the winning process and the culture of you know, of sports and of the culture of just the team and everything else You're you're so heavily involved, which is really I I've always admired about you from a distance and even got Thio.

You know, Goto, you know, toe the Dallas Mavs and see, see, see them play and how involved you are, how passionate you were and just how excited we were for the game.

And I was excited for my 10 day contract and still never got it.

But, you know, I I'm just saying, You know, you, you are so heavily invested in your you've been so heavily invested into the community.

And what people?

Yeah, right.

You know that you know where people it's not like football or basketball is the most important thing in the world, especially now in a pandemic.

But people look up to us.

People look up to you and Toluca Don checks and Kristaps Porzingis and the Mavs and the Seahawks become part of their lives.

And it's something they look forward to.

And when we run into a situation like this, I mean, we're part of the community and, you know, during regular time to community lifts us up, right?

We're the only sport, you know, When the Seahawks win a Super Bowl, they throw parades, right?

You know, the whole city's on fire the whole regions on fire, man, and you just can't.

Everybody is excited.

And, you know, when the Mavs one it was the same thing.

And on the flip side, when things aren't going well, you know, you hear you hear about it, right?

Because people share it with you because you become part of their families and and you know, Dallas has given me so much and giving the Mavericks so much.

I think it's important to give back just like you guys do, right.

I see all the things that you do for the community.

It's important to you, you know, and you go out of your way to help kids and organizations and be a leader in, and I try to follow that same lead where, you know we're so blessed that it just we're able to help people and were ableto you know, do you help people deal with their issues where we can, and I think it's important to do so.

I think that's a great point.

I think that, you know, for me and see it's, you know, we were able to make a difference, you know, with, you know, feeding America and departing up with with With wheels up with meals up with our foundation.

Why not you?

Foundation?

And it was so important for us to be able to make a difference in Seattle and just across the country, because the reality is is that it's a responsibility.

It's a responsibility and obligation, in my opinion, you know, the Bible talks about much is given.

Much is required to be able to give back to people.

I think it's it's so important because God has gifted us with the opportunity.

Thio from the outside looking in.

It seems like you guys both care to.

That's the difference.

Is that you?

You care and that's why you do it.

I think that's one thing people forget.

Some people are blessed and they don't care.

You care about the Mavs, so it's easy for you to want the best for the Mavs.

You care about the community, so it's easy for you to care about.

The secret is that you care enough to want to be great at it.

I mean, you can't not.

You can't ignore it, right?

I'm sure.

Rust.

It's the same for you.

Get letters and emails and calls.

You know there's some kid who's dying of cancer and he's a huge rust band, right?

And you know, he wants a jersey assigned Jersey to be buried.

Or, you know, he's a huge mass fan and he wants to come to a game.

Can we arrange that toe happen or, you know, he's in the hospital and he's really, really sick with Kobe.

Can we send a Mavs here just to cheer him up?

Because this family can't go in there and see them?

And these are the little things that you don't talk about but that you do, because when you you know, we're just in a very gifted position, very fortunate position, toe lift people up and it doesn't have to be the big things, and it's not the things you talk about, and it's not the thing, but it just lifting people up when they're when they're really hurting, is just to be able to do that.

Is something special?

Yeah.

You're so right.

Who were the Who?

You're you're five.

When speaking about that.

Like, obviously, you've had amazing guys that you got in tow.

You know, be around and be a part of your team and everything else.

Who would you say?

Your top five guys are that you've played?

Are you you've worked with?

You have made a difference.

You, Billy Donovan, top teammate ever.

Why you Who?

Your top five.

Who?

Your starting five in terms of Dallas Mavs guys.

The players that have had impact in the community but also obviously been great as well as players.

Like, who are those guys that you can think of, Like Dirk Nowitzki?

I mean, still, just like you Dirt, you know, dirt.

Recall of Children's hospitals, cancer ward and say, I'm coming down.

Can you know not.

Okay, can the math set it up and let's bring some cameras.

It's just like I'm coming down to visit, and I'm just gonna show up.

He'll spend hours.

I mean that that's crazy, right?

I mean, just to be able to give his time like that, and he's been a big inspiration for me on he does.

You know he has a charity baseball game.

He has a charity tennis tournament, and he's just doing all these things with kids all the time.

You know Michael Finley, um, Steve Nash, guys that when I first came into the league kind of taught me all these things that that it is a responsibility and they had foundations, you know, I would go to the South Side of Chicago with Michael Finley on Dwork with the kids in his foundation and give a little try to inspire them to doom.

Or, you know, so those probably are the top three that really, you know, when I first bought the Mavs really showed me the way and really, really seven setting set an example of how of what I wanted to accomplish, and they were great.

Well, I think this picture of legacy an impact, you know, especially the community, both correlate.

You know, I think that for the greatest players and the people that I admire, um, you know, and one of the guys we just played actually this weekend against, you know, this, You know, this Thursday night against you know, the Arizona Cardinals and one of my favorite guys in the NFL is his later Fitzgerald, and just his impact obvious on the field and his legacy on the field.

But his impact in the community, I think with those two things, correlate.

That's when you find these legends of the games.

You know that.

And Larry went to Pitt, called Emailed me, called me up and then emailed me when they were coming to Dallas and asked me to come and talk to the younger players to talk about financial responsibility, just set it up on his own and just over and over and over again.

You hear stories like that about Larry?

I mean, so you're exactly right that somebody that that I think we all should look up to because he's somebody special on the on the field and off.

He's one of my favorite guys.

I e no, that obviously him playing university pitting.

You know, I see you're looking your phone right now, and that is free agency is going on right now.

What's going on?

The free agency free agency is happening right now.

You know on danger talk I got, I got nobody right now.

And, you know, some people play fantasy sports.

This is my fantasy sports.

You're the only guy that I would do this for when free agency started.

Russ, you know that.

You know?

Hey, listen, I I hear all this talk, but I'm still waiting for my 10 day contract.

I'm going to wait.

You know, you're my next call.

I've been a free agent.

I've been a free agent for the past five years.

Mark Cuban.

I'm getting ready, right?

I mean, we just drafted a point guard, but see about I forgot I should have been on top of my game.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, it's all good.

Me looking.

We could be scored points for you right now.

Yeah, you could.

Man, Lucas really feel he's amazing.

He is amazing.

He's He's so smooth with this jump shot.

It's incredible how he creates space.

You know, he's so dominant.

Who would you compare him to as a player?

All the guys you've seen in your lifetime and everything else.

Like what?

Is there a player that you compare it?

Oh, Magic Johnson.

Yeah.

Magic Johnson.

Yeah.

Could pass the Balkan see over the top can get where he wants on the court, knows how to get, you know, pass to a guy on time and on Target.

Um loves to play a crunch time.

We'll take on the responsibility of anybody, anytime.

Great teammate.

Fun kid, you know, magic with light things up, right with a smile.

Lucas.

The same way he's got that charisma that magic has, you know, and, you know, start, he'll get there.

He's that smart.

But look the off because Gen.

Z kids are different, right?

You know, even the millennials, right?

They just got a different vibe about them in different interests and and so he's just on social media.

He's lighting people up.

He's lighting kids up wherever we're playing.

He's spending time talking to kids, bringing kids on the court.

It's just he's got that charisma and that, and actually, you know he's going to set his own path.

I mean, he's not his games most like Magic Johnson, but his personality, I think, is almost even bigger than Magic Johnson.

Yeah, well, I I think that, you know, one of the times I gotto be around magic.

We were actually in Seattle, and he had this as you mentioned this, this charisma to him and how he really engaged with young kids.

And I really admired that cause I remember these young kids run up to me and then they ran.

That's Magic Johnson.

Just how he embraced him.

Um, you know, even though he's larger than life, I I really admired that from him, and I just noticed that I I see that all the time.

We look at Tuas well, and you know, even though is a younger guy, just his ability to still be at the highest level, but yet still be calm and still have fun and still relaxed at all times.

He let the game come to him, right?