Mark Cuban slams Cruz for saying NBA ratings were low because it’s too ‘woke’
Mark Cuban and Ted Cruz were in a heated twitter exchange over racial injustice and civil liberties
This week, Senator Ted Cruz and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban got into a war of words during a debate about if the league’s new Black Lives Matter messaging was to blame for this year’s dip in NBA Finals ratings.
According to Sports Media Watch, this season’s first three Finals games between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat ended up being the least-watched Finals games in NBA history.
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In response to the news, Cruz, who hails from Texas which has three NBA teams, including the Mavericks, posted a tweet letting his followers know he personally hasn’t watched a single game of the Finals for the first time in years and is unsurprised about the low ratings. But the part of the Tweet that raised some brows was his ending hashtag: “GoWokeGoBroke.”
Apparently Cuban took issue with the implication that supporting social justice initiatives was akin to financial ruin, and responded by slamming the senator for being smug about the NBA’s down year.
“A US Senator with 3 @NBA teams in his state, employing thousands of people and he is rooting for their businesses to do poorly,” Cuban tweeted. “This is who you are @tedcruz. Every minute of your life, this is exactly who you are.”
Cruz responded to Cuban by clarifying that he’s loved the Houston Rockets, rooted for them his entire life and will “happily cheer for the Spurs & Mavericks against any non-TX team.” But then goes on to opine that both Cuban and the NBA are “engaged in a concerted effort to (1) insult their fans & (2) turn every game into a left-wing political lecture.”
He concluded by calling the allegiance to liberal causes “dumb.”
Cuban clapped back, saying Cruz was “full of sh*t.”
“You haven’t watched a game of the finals, how would you know what is being said or done? Since when is a desire to end racism an insult to anyone or political? And you don’t think using #GetWokeGoBroke is a partisan insult?” he tweeted.
After as Cruz accused Cuban of “loving Chinese money” more than his fans, Cuban sarcastically concluded the debate by stating, “Shame on me for putting American Civil Rights and Justice, creating jobs, growing our economy and healthcare reform over twitter proclamations.”
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