As usual, the 2017 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game was nothing to be terribly excited about on Friday evening. Part of that was a cast of characters that maybe weren’t quite as famous as you might think and, of course, part of that could be that it isn’t all that interesting to watch pseudo-celebrities play basketball on television.
However, one very interesting tidbit emerged from the proceedings and it involved Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban… and his jersey number for the event.
Cuban has gone back and forth with President Donald Trump on Twitter at various points both during the campaign and after the inauguration and, as an apparent result, he elected to wear No. 46 on his back for the game. With Trump serving as the 45th President of the United States, this seemed to be an intentional shot across the bow, and Cuban all but confirmed as much in the aftermath when speaking to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Cuban indicated that the number was donned to “tweak the sh*t out of everybody” and went on to say “It was just to f*ck with everybody, because that’s what I do. You can’t take it too seriously. We’ll see.” Later, the Mavericks owner exclaimed that people should “watch the jersey number, not (his) game” and it was all reportedly uttered with a wry smile.
This is the type of thing needed to give the Celebrity Game a bit of buzz and, considering Cuban’s new place in the political landscape, his decision should generate some attention both in opposition and support. Mark Cuban as the next President of the United States is an interesting thought but, for now, he is “just” a billionaire NBA owner that likes to share his opinion in a public forum.
