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Mark Cuban is the rarest of creatures in today’s sports world: an outspoken owner unafraid to speak his opinion on just about any topic, whether it’s his belief that the NBA should fund research into human growth hormone or his crusade to change U.S. patent law.
Sometimes, though, the brutally honest approach can go very wrong. Like earlier this week, when the Dallas Mavericks owner said if he “saw a black kid in a hoodie” at night, he’d walk to the other side of the street. Now Cuban has apologized to the family of Trayvon Martin, the Miami teen killed two years ago by George Zimmerman while walking home at night in a hoodie.
See also: Trayvon Martin: Miami Heat Pose in Hoodies
Cuban apologized last night on his Twitter feed, saying he should have been more cognizant that his hoodie reference would immediately conjure thoughts of the Martin case.
The interview stirred immediate criticism, including from the Miami Heat’s Chris Bosh, who told the press: “It’s just a sensitive time.”
But Cuban also refused to back down from the substance of his interview, which — divorced from the Martin reference — boiled down to the fact that all Americans still have biases, including Mark Cuban.
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