Whoever said chivalry amongst billionaires was dead has clearly never crossed paths with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Apparently, the Chicago Bulls’ jet was forced to touch down because of engine problems over the weekend, and Cuban loaned the team Dallas’ so that they could get to their game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night (via ESPNChicago.com):
“Apparently a compressor in engine No. 3 had some trouble, and it sounded like it exploded, but I guess it’s like a jet engine backfire, which is very loud,” Bulls radio analyst Bill Wennington said Monday on ESPN 1000’s “Waddle & Silvy Show.” “Sparks fly out of it. It happened actually right after … the captain thrusts the engines forward and it revs up and starts to go, about three seconds after that you hear a ‘Boom!’ ‘Oh, what was that, are we stopping?’ The plane keeps going down [the runway] and you’re thinking, ‘Oh no, why aren’t we stopping?’
“It was funny, because we’re in the back of the plane, and the engines are right by us, and we hear it. They can’t hear it [in the front of the plane]. And apparently they couldn’t feel anything. And so we take off fine, and about five minutes later, two more booms, ‘Boom!, Boom!,’ and a couple people saw flames and sparks and stuff flying out [while looking out of] the window. We’re all thinking, ‘Well, it’s been nice.'”
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban lent the Bulls the Mavs’ plane to fly to San Antonio on Monday night and to return after Wednesday’s game.
And you though your commute to work was a headache.
First, let’s get serious and just acknowledge how fortunate it was that no one was hurt. That would have been something I would’ve hated to write about. Knowing that everyone came out the other side of this ordeal safe makes it a lot easier to look back and laugh.
Chuckle we will, too. That the Bulls needed to “borrow” an aircraft is downright comical. This wasn’t one neighbor in need of a cup of sugar or an egg. The Bulls needed a plane.
Which Cuban delivered, much to the delight of the boys in red.
Our plane broke, @mcuban loaned us his, nice guy… lockerz.com/s/286239929
— Louis Amundson (@LouAmundson17) March 7, 2013
The relationship between most of the league’s players is in good standing and well-documented, yet I can’t help but wonder if a division rival, like say the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks, would have readily offered up a plane to help the Bulls.
Proximity and convenience was clearly a factor here, as Chicago was charted due Texas anyway, but still, I wonder if any other NBA owners/teams would have stepped up if given the opportunity. I’d hazard yes, yet at the same time, this is an unprecedented situation.
Credit Cuban with the assist here, ensuring that the Bulls didn’t have to (gasp) fly coach. That would have been absolutely atrocious. To have to sit next to someone like me (and probably you) who doesn’t make at least seven-figures a year would have been absolutely horrid. I mean, talk about slumming it (I jest).
If only the Bulls could have returned the favor by beating the Spurs. The Mavericks are not in play for the Southwest Division title, but it would have been a nice gesture nonetheless.
Regardless, even after all this time the quandaries that arise within the Association never cease to amaze us.
And Cuban himself never fails to surprise.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
