We’re not saying things are out of control in the Dallas Mavericks bench area in these chaotic and escalating Western Conference Finals, but hopefully you won’t miss the rest of the series tips. The way things are going, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban might just sneak onto the field and jump to center.
Sources tell us the Golden State Warriors complained to the league office about the Mavericks playing an illegal 2-3-17 zone defense.
You know you got a problem when a fierce tycoon a tycoon The battle between the Cuban and rapper Lil Wayne takes precedence over the bench of the Mavericks brouhaha.
All hell broke loose on that bench area. Dallas Subs and inactive players and Cuban himself became a spectacle in their own right.
In violation of league rules, the Dallas bench team stand up during live action, they sometimes slip onto the field and they distract opponents (i.e. Warriors). Cuban is right there with them, barking at the referees like a dump dog, with his toes on or near the sideline.
The Mavs’ behavior has resulted in fines of $25,000, $50,000, $100,000, and the league is threatening to continue doubling the fines. At this rate, Cuban will go bankrupt in 130 years.
When the $100,000 fine was announced on Sunday, Cuban likely asked league commissioner Adam Silver, “Do you have change for a million dollar bill?
The rowdy Mavs bench had its Hall of Fame moment in Game 2 Friday night at the Chase Center, when Stephen Curry threw a pass to what he thought was a teammate. It turned out to be inactive Mavs player Theo Pinson, who was standing on the sideline wearing a white shirt, the same color as the Warriors’ uniforms that night, and waved the ball.
It was a trick Pinson could have borrowed from the late Super Dave Osborne, who once revealed he had become a table tennis champion by sticking ping pong balls all over his shirt to distract his opponents.
This column, it should be noted, has always tipped on the side of the fun-seekers in all sporting debates about acceptable behavior and overtaking. Bat flips, touchdown celebrations, Curry giving his opponents the “nighty-night” sign – it’s all part of the fun! But there are limits.
Also worth noting: The Warriors have long been at the forefront of enthusiastic bench celebrations. Head coach Steve Kerr knows that, and it was wise of him to avoid criticizing the Mavs bench.
Before Sunday’s game, Mavs coach Jason Kidd blamed the whole problem on the media.
WEST FINALS
Best-of-seven series
All games on TNT, 95.7
Golden State leads the series 2-0
Sea.: Warriors 112, Mavericks 87
Friday: Warriors 126, Mavericks 117
Sunday: in Dallas, late
Tuesday: at Dallas, 6 p.m.
Thusday: at the Chase Center*, 6 p.m.
May 28: at Dallas*, 6 p.m.
May 30: at the Chase Center*, 5 p.m.
* – if necessary
“We’re not a complaining organization,” Kidd said. “You haven’t heard us complain when we lose. . .If you want to talk about the bench, you can talk about the bench. It’s yours. We are not talking about the bench. You did the article on the bench and that’s how we started getting fined, because you brought it to light. So you should pay the fines. . .So the media is at fault here.
Also before the game, Kerr commented, “I have no problem with (bench activity) as long as it doesn’t interfere with the game. I love the energy of these guys. You can feel their solidarity. So that’s all fine as long as it doesn’t interfere with the action that’s going on.
“For us, I think for most teams, the guys these days, the modern NBA, seem to be more engaged on the bench and there’s more drama and more dancing, and I think overall , it’s rather good.”
Kerr said it was cool as long as the Mavs didn’t play the old white shirt decoy trick again. During Sunday’s pre-game warm-ups, referee Mark Davis approached Pinson and asked him to change into his white shirt. Pinson didn’t, he wore the white shirt and held out for most of the game.
Turns out Pinson is carving out a career in the NBA as a cheerleader and a public nuisance. He stayed with the Mavs this season on a two-way deal and is inactive for the playoffs, but Kidd recently said, “He’s our MVP.”
So the position looks good for everyone but the league office. More potentially problematic is the tendency of the Cuban conga line to veer across the playing surface, which can be distracting and dangerous.
In addition, the fans are blocked. It would have been a problem for Chase in the first two games, if most of those ticket holders behind the Mavs bench hadn’t been chilling in their caviar caverns.
So what can the league do for the rest of the series? Require the guys on the Mavs bench to wear those “electric fence” dog collars, giving them a zap if they encroach on the field?
The Mavs show no indication that they plan to sit down and behave. When Sunday’s fine was announced, injured player Tim Hardaway Jr. tweeted the league’s press release and added four applause emoticons.
Appealing to Cuba’s sense of responsibility is probably unnecessary. Fighting the league is his hobby and he enjoys public theater. For example, Cuban engaged in a fierce battle of public insults with Lil Wayne (or, as TV commentator Reggie Miller calls him, “Little” Wayne), who was seated front row at Chase for the match. 2.
Wayne started. On social media, he called Mavs superstar Luka Doncic a bad name sometimes used to mean “prostitute”. Cuban responded by tweeting the lyrics to Wayne’s song “Uproar” – “This is a shit show, get front row.”
Wayne responded by threatening to – uh, let’s just say creatively put out the fire on Cuban’s hot tongue.
Lil Wayne has finally cooled off, accepting Cuba’s peace offer of a front row seat in Dallas.
When Mark Cuban and Lil Wayne are the adults in the room, you have a problem.
Scott Ostler is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.comTwitter: @scottostler