We’re not saying the situation is out of hand in the Dallas Mavericks’ bench area during these Western Conference finals, chaotic and getting worse, but hopefully you won’t miss the remaining tip-offs in the series. The way things are going, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban might just sneak onto the court and jump center.
Sources tell us that the Golden State Warriors have complained to the league office about the Mavericks playing an illegal 2-3-17 zone defense.
You know you’ve got a problem when a fierce mogul a mogul battle between Cuban and rapper Lil Wayne takes a back seat to the Mavericks’ bench brouhaha.
All hell has broken loose on that bench area. The Dallas subs and inactive players and Cuban himself have become a show of their own.
In violation of league rules, the Dallas bench crew stands during live action, they sometimes creep onto the court, and they distract opponents (i.e., the Warriors). Cuban is right there with ’em, barking at refs like a junkyard dog, with his toes on or near the sideline.
The Mavs’ behavior has led to fines of $25,000, $50,000, $100,000, and the league threatens to keep doubling the fines. At this rate, Cuban will go broke in 130 years.
When the $100,000 fine was announced Sunday, Cuban probably asked league commissioner Adam Silver, “Got change for a million-dollar bill?”
The Mavs’ rowdy bench had its Hall of Fame moment in Game 2 on Friday night at 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 waving for the ball.
It was a trick Pinson might have borrowed from the late Super Dave Osborne, who once revealed that he became a table tennis champion by gluing ping-pong balls all over his shirt to distract his opponents.
This column, it should be noted, has always come down on the side of the fun-seekers in all sports debates about what behavior is acceptable and what crosses the line. Bat flips, touchdown celebrations, Curry giving opponents the “nighty-night” sign — all part of the fun! But there are limits.
Also worth noting: The Warriors have long been in 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 series 2-0
Wed.: Warriors 112, Mavericks 87
Friday: Warriors 126, Mavericks 117
Sunday: at Dallas, late
Tuesday: at Dallas, 6 p.m.
Thursday: at Chase Center*, 6 p.m.
May 28: at Dallas*, 6 p.m.
May 30: at Chase Center*, 5 p.m.
* – if necessary
“We’re not a complaining organization,” Kidd said. “You haven’t heard us complain about when we lose. . .If you want to talk about the bench, you can talk about the bench. That’s on you. We don’t talk about the bench. You guys did the article on the bench and that’s how we started getting fined, because you brought light to it. So you guys should be paying the fines. . .So the media is at fault here.”
Also before the game, Kerr commented, “I’ve got no problem with (the bench activity) as long as it doesn’t interfere with the game. I love the energy of those guys. You can feel their togetherness. So all that’s good as long as there’s no interference with the action that’s happening.
“For us, I think for most teams, guys these days, modern NBA, seem to be more engaged on the bench and there’s more theatrics and more dancing, and I think all in all, it’s pretty good stuff.”
Kerr said he’s cool as long as the Mavs don’t pull the old white-shirt decoy trick again. During Sunday’s pregame warmups, ref Mark Davis approached Pinson and asked him to change out of his white shirt. Pinson did not, he wore the white shirt and stood most of the game.
Pinson, it turns out, is carving out an NBA career as a cheerleader and public nuisance. He stuck with the Mavs this season on a two-way contract and is inactive for the playoffs, but Kidd recently said, “He’s our MVP.”
So the standing seems fine with everyone except the league office. More potentially problematic is the tendency for Cuban’s conga line to veer onto the playing surface, which can be distracting and dangerous.
Also, fans are blocked. That would have been an issue at Chase the first two games, had most of those ticket-holders behind the Mavs’ bench not been chillin’ in their caviar caverns.
So what can the league do for the rest of the series? Require the Mavs’ bench guys to wear those “electric fence” dog collars, giving them a zap if they trespass onto the court?
The Mavs show zero indication they plan to sit down and behave. When the Sunday fine was announced, injured player Tim Hardaway Jr. tweeted out the league’s news release and added four hand-clap emojis.
Appealing to Cuban’s sense of responsibility is probably useless. Fighting the league is his hobby, and he loves public theater. For instance, Cuban has been engaged in a fiery public insult battle with Lil Wayne (or as TV commentator Reggie Miller calls him, “Little” Wayne), who sat front row at Chase for Game 2.
Wayne started it. On social media he called Mavs’ superstar Luka Doncic a bad name sometimes used to mean “prostitute.” Cuban responded by tweeting lyrics from Wayne’s song “Uproar” — “It’s a s— show, put you front row.”
Wayne responded by threatening to — uh, let’s just say to creatively quench the fire on Cuban’s hot tongue.
Lil Wayne finally chilled, accepting Cuban’s peace offer of a front-row seat in Dallas.
When Mark Cuban and Lil Wayne are the adults in the room, you’ve got a problem.
Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @scottostler
