Mark Cuban

Outspoken Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban said on Thursday that he would sell the team if NBA Commissioner David Stern ever punished him by forcing the franchise to forfeit draft picks. "Because at that point it's personal, and I can't run a business in that kind of world," Cuban said. Cuban has been fined eight times totaling more than $1 million in his first two years as owner.

Mark Cuban was fined again by the NBA, this time $100,000 for sitting on the baseline during the Dallas Mavericks' game Wednesday night in Minneapolis. "I wasn't aware this was finable, there isn't a rule against it," Cuban said via e-mail to the Associated Press. "They said it wasn't fitting for an owner to sit there. Ridiculous." It was the fifth time this season and second in a week that Commissioner David Stern has fined Cuban. So far, Cuban has been assessed $395,000.

Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and co-owner of the Landmark Theatres cinema chain, has acquired a 9.4% stake in Carmike Cinemas Inc., according to a regulatory filing Monday. In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Cuban reported buying 1.2 million Carmike shares for roughly $2.8 million since mid-October. He said he acquired his stake in Columbus, Ga.-based Carmike for investment purposes.

RANCHO MIRAGE -- Pornanong Phatlum, a 23-year-old from Thailand, took an early clubhouse lead Friday during the second round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA's first major tournament of the year. Phatlum, whose brother Pornpong is her caddie and wears the exact same eye-catching outfits as his sister, shot a second-round 69 for a two-day total of four-under-par 140. Their wardrobes are provided by Loudmouth, the company famous for outfitting John Daly in flashy combinations.

Years before he was an assistant coach for the Lakers, Darvin Ham played for Texas Tech.  In 1996 in the NCAA tournament, he threw down a tremendous put-back dunk against the University of North Carolina, shattering the backboard. Who neglected to box him out?  None other than current Lakers forward Antawn Jamison. Ham and the Red Raiders knocked Jamison's Tar Heels out of the tournament. Both share their memories with Time Warner Cable SportsNet on Wednesday night at 5 in the latest episode of "Backstage: Lakers.

What a lovely first-round war. It doesn't get any better than the Dallas-Golden State series, which resumes tonight with the Warriors, who were three minutes from shocking the world in Game 5, still ahead, 3-2, and one elusive win away from dumping the Mavericks on their big reputation. A series with the ultimate David and the ultimate Goliath just had the ultimate comeback in Game 5 with the Mavericks rallying from nine points down in the final 3:02.

Just about everyone who witnessed the golfers struggling during the final round of the U.S. Open could see that Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was too severe, even for the best players in the world. Everyone, that is, except for the U.S. Golf Assn., which had defended its setup even as it received harsh criticism from players, fans and the media. Thursday, however, the USGA changed its tune.

New Orleans Hornet forward Jamal Mashburn, who hasn't played this season because of a knee injury, will return to practice on Jan. 26, the team said Wednesday. The Hornets said no date had been set for a return to the lineup. Mashburn injured his knee during a scrimmage before the first exhibition game in October and underwent surgery.

While others argue whether Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant is to blame for their public feud, Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban points his finger at the Laker organization. "If the president and the CEO of a corporation were speaking publicly like that, you'd have to say the board of directors was doing something wrong," Cuban said. "By the time a problem grows in an organization to where the most visible figures are venting publicly, it means ... people are not doing their jobs.