Basketball team owner speaks on steroids, Pirates at Union

Mark Cuban spoke at the William Pitt Union yesterday and answered the question on everyone’s… Mark Cuban spoke at the William Pitt Union yesterday and answered the question on everyone’s mind.

“No, I’m not buying the Pirates,” he said.

Jamie Dixon, Pitt’s head basketball coach, introduced Cuban to a full crowd in the Union’s assembly room.

“Mark was a Pittsburgh guy … I told him I was at Pittsburgh, and he took me in like a Pittsburgh guy does,” Dixon said.

Cuban, a Mt. Lebanon native famous for owning the Dallas Mavericks and founding HDNet, walked onto the stage wearing a Pitt basketball T-shirt and jeans. “People say I don’t get dressed up, but look at me now,” he said with a big smile.

Cuban discussed former Pitt basketball player DeJuan Blair and his place in the NBA Draft, which resulted in Blair’s placement on the San Antonio Spurs.

Blair was a “beast” in high school and at Pitt, and right now he’s “killing it” for the Spurs, but Blair is not a first-round draft pick because of knee problems.

“Every doctor that looked at him said it’s going to be a problem,” Cuban said.

Teams draft athletes in the first round looking for them to play for four years, and that’s difficult with knee problems such as Blair’s, Cuban said.

The Spurs drafted Blair in the second round, looking for him to last two years, he said.

“He was a steal in the second round, I hope he stays healthy for a long, long time,” Cuban said.

Cuban, known throughout the NBA for drawing fines, said, “Every time I got fined, it was on purpose.” Cuban said he has spent more than $1.5 million on fines during his career as an NBA team owner.

“It’s a lot of money, but it’s money well spent.”

Cuban answered one woman’s question about his stance on steroid use, which he acknowledged would be controversial.

“I’m not so against steroids, if it’s administered under proper supervision,” he said. “We do performance-enhancing things all the time, just not steroids,” Cuban said.

As long as the drugs are administered properly and fairly, and rules are set strictly, Cuban said he thought steroid use was OK. If atheletes recognize any long-term health risks or issues, then they shouldn’t do it, he said.

Cuban was on the fifth season of the television show “Dancing with the Stars,” and one student asked about his experience on the program.

“The chance to go out there knowing that it was live in front 20 million people was terrifying, and I loved every minute of it,” he said.

Pitt sophomore Zach Scarfo won two tickets to the Mavericks vs. Cavaliers game because he attended the event. He said he’d let his friends “fight it out” for the other ticket.

“Mark was a really great speaker, and I’m really psyched to go to the game and enjoy a night at the Pete,” he said.

“If they have a losers’ reunion, I would love to be apart of it,” Cuban said.

Cuban spoke very highly of Pitt and what he learned here.

“I learned how to talk to girls,” he joked. “That was important.”

But he also had more serious reasons, as well.

“I was motivated,” Cuban said. “Pitt did a really, really good job letting me challenge myself. I learned how to learn.”