Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban could also be grooming Sheldon Adelson’s 20-something son to run the NBA team after the shock sale to the late casino magnate’s family, The Post has learned.
Cuban, who sources say considered Adelson a mentor, is anticipated to keep up operational control of the franchise despite agreeing to sell his majority stake in a deal that values the Mavs at around $3.5 billion.
Sources told The Post that Cuban’s understudy might be Matan Adelson, a Stanford graduate who once worked as an intern for the club and recently joined the ranks of basketball team owners with the acquisition of a club in Israel.
“I figure inside five to seven years, Matan might be running the team,” a source near the Adelsons said. “Of course, by the point he’s 30.”
Cuban will keep a roughly 20% stake within the Mavs, sources said, however the surprising sale raised speculation the entrepreneur and reality TV star was facing a liquidity crunch.
Matan Adelson is being groomed to own and run the Dallas Mavericks, sources imagine. Matan Adelson / Linkedin
He was in talks to sell a minority stake within the Mavericks in recent weeks until he paused them to pursue the larger take care of the Adelsons, a source near the sale process said.
Cuban, 65, and Matan Adelson didn’t return calls for comment.
Matan is one in every of two boys by Adelson and his second wife Miriam, the source said. She and the family have a net value estimated at greater than $32 billion following the 2021 death of her husband, who before passing at age 87 owned the famed Venetian hotel in Las Vegas and controlled gambling giant Las Vegas Sands Corp.
In March, the Adelsons reportedly paid $20 million for the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team and put Matan in charge.
The late Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam have long wanted a basketball team for his or her son Matan, sources said. AP
“I’ve been a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant specifically since I used to be young,” Matan said in a press release after the sale. “For me, Kobe embodied grit, an unmatched work ethic, and incredible determination. Growing up, I took numerous inspiration from him, watching him strive to be one of the best version of himself, and thru my leadership, I hope to manifest this mentality on this club for now and for years to come back.”
Apart from working as an intern within the Mavericks corporate sponsorship department in 2016, Matan was an investment banking summer analyst for Goldman Sachs before graduating from Stanford in 2021, in accordance with his LinkedIn page.
“Matan is a really polite kid,” the source said.
Mark Cuban might be in a financial bind after losing on multiple crypto investments, sources said. Paola Morrongiello
For instance, Matan had a celebration along with his Stanford friends on the Venetian and everybody was surprisingly respectful and nice, the source near the Adelsons said.
The Adelsons had a family suite at Staples Center in Los Angeles while Matan was growing up which they used regularly to look at Lakers games, the source said.
Additionally they have long been near Cuban, the source added.
In the course of the NBA’s Summer League held in Vegas, the Mavericks would stay at Adelson’s hotels, the primary source near Adelsons said, fueling Matan’s interest in hoops.
Cuban will likely get to run the Mavs for several years until he grooms Matan to the purpose he’s able to assume control. Getty Images
“Sheldon had a relationship with Cuban for 15 to twenty years,” the source near the Adelsons said. “I feel Mark viewed Sheldon as a mentor to him.”
When Cuban’s show “Shark Tank” needed a location to film during COVID after their Culver City, Calif., studio was shut down, the producers went to Adelson’s Venetian to make the shows.
Cuban, who raised eyebrows last week when he announced he was leaving the show, has invested heavily in crypto over time – further fueling questions on his funds after the collapse of exchanges like FTX and Binance.
Mark Cuban was a giant promoter of Voyager Digital which is now bankrupt. Voyager
He had investments in Ethereum-token ApeCoin, cross-chain wallet service Blockto, crypto Injective Protocol, NFT metaverse developer Althea Artificial Liquid Intelligence Token and blockchain ecosystem Ocean Protocol, in accordance with a December 2022 article in CoinGape.
He also owned a stake and heavily promoted now bankrupt Voyager Digital.
“He’s failed in numerous these crypto endeavors,” a source near Cuban said.
The arrangement that may allow Cuban to run the Mavericks is unusual but not unprecedented.
Scott Malkin and Jonathan Ledecky took control of the Latest York Islanders in 2016 and while Malkin owned greater than 50% of the team, Ledecky is seen because the one who runs the hockey club.
The discounted price the Adelson’s paid for the team may stem from the incontrovertible fact that Cuban doesn’t own the American Airlines Center, where the Mavs and their star Luca Doncic play. The lease expires in 2031.
The Phoenix Suns sold for $4 billion last 12 months, while the small-market Milwaukee Bucks recently fetched $3.5 billion.
