The Mavericks signed Chandler Parsons to an offer sheet in restricted free agency this summer, and when the Rockets chose not to match, Dallas was committed to guaranteeing Parsons in the neighborhood of $46 million over the next three seasons.
Mark Cuban has always been against NBA players spending their summers competing internationally, essentially because NBA owners assume 100 percent of the risk with the players’ contracts being fully guaranteed should they suffer any injury. There also isn’t any financial incentive for the owners, which is another point of contention as far as Cuban is concerned.
But the reality is, at this point, he can’t do anything about it if his players decide on their own that USA Basketball is of a significant level of importance.
From Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas:Parsons’ participation isn’t Cuban’s preference, but Cuban does not have the power to deny Parsons from playing, as was the case for the many summers that Dirk Nowitzki suited up for Germany.
“Like Dirk, I can’t stop him,” Cuban said in an email reply to ESPNDallas.com. “It’s his decision.”
Cuban said he did not specifically tell Parsons that he didn’t want the small forward playing for Team USA after signing a three-year, $46 million deal with Dallas. Cuban didn’t think it was necessary and isn’t allowed to pressure players to not play international ball.
“He knows how I feel,” Cuban said.As of now, that’s as far as it can go. But with the injury to Paul George rocking the basketball world, it’s more than likely that this topic will be revisited by the league’s owners, and will undergo some serious discussion.
