ACCORDING to National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner Adam Silver, all league press releases from hereon won’t include the term “owner” to describe ownership of an NBA franchise.
This move is being taken to avoid any racial or slavery connotations allegedly arising from usage of the word “owner” as once insinuated by Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.
In ancient times, there were plantation owners and their slaves most likely were the descendants of African-American NBA athletes, who now comprise more than 70 percent of the player population in the league.
This declaration of Green was criticized by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who said that the term “owner” refers to ownership of equity, and not of persons, and that Green should go back to business school due to ignorance.
From now on, the NBA will use the term “governor” to describe the controlling owner of a league franchise. For example, Jeanie Buss is the LA Lakers’ controlling governor.
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Mavericks Nation can now heave a sigh of relief.
Dallas has signed erstwhile restricted free agent Kristaps Porzingis to a new five-year, $158 million maximum pact.
For the 7-foot-3 Porzingis, it is the largest ever contract ever in Mavericks history. The deal surpasses whatever the German shepherd Dirk Nowitzki received for a single contract during his entire 21-year NBA career with the club, a partnership that set a league record in 2018-19 for most consecutive seasons in a career with a single team.
Porzingis, who turns 24 on August 2, was acquired from the New York Knickerbockers in a trade last January 31. The Latvia-born forward-center, however, failed to suit up for the Mavs during the entire 2018-19 campaign as he was recovering from a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his left knee that he suffered during a February 6, 2018 game regular assignment against the Milwaukee Bucks while still in New York uniform.
Porzingis’ injury is that same one that befell Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors in Game Six of the 2019 NBA Finals where the Toronto Raptors registered a 4-2 victory for the first title ever in their 24-year franchise existence.
Porzingis has been involved in a couple of transgressions with the law in the last two years that drew national attention.
The Mavericks also have given Toronto-born Dwight Powell a three-year, $33 million contract extension. A 28-year-old member of the Canadian national team, the 6-foot-11 center-power forward out of Stanford University has been with Dallas since midway through his rookie NBA season in 2014-15.
Powell, who had earlier exercised his $10.3 million player option for 2019-20, posted a five-year career-high 10.6 points in 77 appearances last season, including 22 starts.