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The Dallas Mavericks have revoked the season media credentials of two Dallas-based ESPN writers, Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon, according to multiple reports.
While it is not unheard of for teams to revoke credentials to reporters over coverage, there doesn't appear to be anything that either Stein or MacMahon have written recently that would justify this type of action. Rather, it appears that the decision was made because the two were not covering the Mavericks enough.
According to Tim Cato of MavsMoneyBall, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made the decision because he was upset that MacMahon's new role at ESPN this season. For the past seven years, MacMahon had covered the Mavericks beat full-time, whereas this season he has transitioned to writing more broadly about the NBA on a national level, and thus covers Cuban's team less often.
That explanation doesn't account for Stein, who has been a national NBA writer for years and hasn't been on the Mavs beat for a decade. One possible explanation is that Cuban is unhappy with writers using his team's home games to cover other teams.
Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated noted that neither reporter had been credentialed for the two most recent Mavericks home games.
2. Told Mavs did not credential the two reporters on Friday and Sunday night. I reached out to the Mavs. Will let you know. https://t.co/OUrNhCJcPt
- Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) November 7, 2016Prominent Dallas sportswriter Tim Cowlishaw called out Cuban for being a "moron":
Yes, this is true. Yes, this is Cuban being a moron. Nothing new in itself, only new level for him. Funny he bashes Trump for this behavior. https://t.co/1JXj3zVyrr
- Tim Cowlishaw (@TimCowlishaw) November 7, 2016Cuban, meanwhile, didn't comment on the matter, saying only this:
Cuban didn't give reasons for Stein & McMahon media ban: "They're not banned from the building. They can still buy a ticket." #ESPN #NBA
- Art Garcia (@ArtGarcia92) November 7, 2016Both ESPN and the NBA released bland statements saying they were committed to working together and expediently resolving the matter.
This isn't the first time that Cuban has lashed out against media covering his team, as Deadspin noted. In 2008, he banned all bloggers from the locker room because he was unhappy with a post written by none other than MacMahon. That matter was resolved quickly, and this one will probably be, too.
The NBA season is not even one month old, though the Mavs are struggling out of the gate at 1-5.