When Cuban proposed a while back that the league capitalize on its international appeal for apparel by selling advertising space on the uniforms of its players, sort of making them akin to NASCAR drivers and European soccer stars, some people got up in arms. Long-time NBA writers thought this was akin to disrespecting the game. Disrespecting the game?

When did making a few extra bucks in professional sports become disrespecting the game?

The “game” is for sale, in case you haven’t noticed. Every inch of it.

From the moment you enter the arena to the moment you limp out to the parking lot light so much money you need to take a bank loan to afford lunch the rest of the week, the game is for sale. So why not the back of Ben Wallace’s jersey? Are Cuban’s critics afraid a few ads might clash with somebody’s tattoos?

Certainly Cuban acts at times like a spoiled brat. If you were worth $1.8 billion, you would, too. You've got a game to watch and an invitation to the Academy Awards on the same night because several of the movies you produced earned several Oscar nominations. Do you have to make a choice between where to go? No.

You just go to the game in a T-shirt, take a private limo to a private airport when it’s over, jump in a private jet, change into your tux, land in Los Angeles and get into another private limo and be rushed to Hollywood, where you stand with your arm around a bunch of starlets before losing both the game and the Oscars and then returning to Dallas via the same private limo to private jet route. If you’re not a spoiled brat after that day, you’re probably not conscious. Or you really are a lunatic.

So what’s the real beef with Cuban? Why do so many people criticize him? Because he complains too much when his team loses?

OK, I’ll concede that. But who doesn’t complain too much when their team loses? The difference is, when he whines, the world knows about because if they don’t catch his first act, he goes on the Internet and tells the world about it.

Good for him.

He also seems to revel in the displeasure and angst he causes Stern.

Didn’t you have the same reaction when you sent the principal in a tizzy?

Who wouldn’t do some of the same things Cuban has if you could afford the consequences?

Most of the people who don’t like Cuban wish they were him. They aren’t because they weren’t some sort of computer geek who twice created companies that sold for big money. The second, Broadcast.com, sold to Yahoo in 1999 for $5.7 billion.

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Not long after getting all that cash, Cuban put his money where his mouth was and bought the Mavs after being disappointed that the team’s home opener in 1999 was neither sold out nor fraught with excitement. He said he thought that he could do a better job than the owners, so he bought the team for $285 million.

Forbes estimates it’s worth $403 million six years later. He was right. He could do a better job, Which, of course, is what people really don’t like about him.

But maybe, instead of getting bent out of shape at his demonstrative rantings, his critics should try something a little radical in response. Maybe they should listen to him.

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