Mavs owner Cuban mum about interest in Cubs

 

DALLAS (AP) -Mark Cuban has led the Wrigley Field crowd during the seventh-inning stretch and has long been considered a potential buyer for the Chicago Cubs. Now that the team will be for sale after this season, might the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks step up to the plate and put in a bid?
“They’re not for sale yet, so I don’t know,” Cuban said Monday, one week after the announcement of the planned sale by Sam Zell, the real estate magnate who is buying the team’s parent company.
“I don’t even know what is for sale when they do try to sell, so there’s nothing really to comment on. There’s nothing to speculate on until they put it up for sale.”
The Mavericks have gone from one of the NBA’s worst teams to one of its best during Cuban’s ownership. While he rubs some people the wrong way, his energy and cash have been a big part of the club’s turnaround, prompting fans of underachieving teams from across the country to e-mail him about buying their team.
He recently was part of a group that had been in talks to buy his hometown hockey team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. But he didn’t have an active role in that group.
The Mavericks remain his top priority, although he’s long been at odds with NBA hierarchy and recently acknowledged his differences with the league office made him consider selling the club last summer.
Dallas is headed into this postseason with the best record in the league. Whether the Mavs win their first title or not, he’ll still have plenty of time later in the summer to turn his attention to a possible purchase of the Cubs.
“It’s not out there yet,” Cuban said. “Saying you’re going to sell something at the end of the year doesn’t really mean anything. … My position has always been there’s no point in commenting on things that are not for sale.”