Mark Cuban calls Miami Heat "the Oakland Raiders of NBA" [View all]
Link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/heat-blog/sfl-miami-heat-mark-cuban-s101913,0,7137655.story?
His team fell to the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, beat them in the 2011 Finals. So Mavericks owner Mark Cuban offering his thoughts on the Heat isn't exactly novel.
But Cuban did offer a novel comparison this week, although he did stop short (mercifully so) of comparing Micky Arison to Al Davis: In Cuban's view, the Heat have grown into the Oakland Raiders of the NBA.
"With the two titles, they're still like the bad guys," Cuban told reporters Friday in Dallas, including those from ESPN, NBA.com and The Dallas Morning News. "There's a confidence bordering on arrogance that is good for them as a team and good for us as a league because it also makes them the team that everybody wants to knock off.
"They're kind of in some respects the Oakland Raiders, and I know that's going to get picked up everywhere. They're kind of like the Oakland Raiders when they were winning. I don't want to compare Micky to Al Davis -- that's not fair -- but you either love them or hate them.
"That's always good for the NBA when you have a team that everybody looks forward to beating. Like when we beat them, I would go to places I've never been and people would give me a standing ovation. That's good for the NBA."