King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Mark Cuban on his new hip, the Mavericks' new point guard and the future of sports-fan technology.

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March 10, 2008 | Dallas Mavericks owner, blogger, billionaire entrepreneur and hip-replacement patient Mark Cuban was in San Francisco last week to speak to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons about his new joint, which he says makes him feel "20 years younger." So that'd be 29, about five years younger than he looks.

Why? "Well," he said in a brief interview in a hotel conference room, "you get a hip replaced, and seven weeks later to be on 'Dancing With the Stars.' I think there's a lot of people out there that are in comparable situations. You know, something hurts, and you've got to make that decision point, you need to go through the surgery and go through it all. I guess I'm a testimonial that there's a reason to do it."

He said his hip problem stemmed from years of playing rugby and other sports, and that he had the surgery not so much to get back to playing -- "but I am going to play again" -- but to keep up with his kids, who are 4 and 1. "If they're running around and I'm, 'Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second.' You know, 'Help Dad up.' That sucks."

Cuban, his new hip and his dance partner, Kym Johnson, didn't win "Dancing With the Stars." Perhaps an NBA title for the Mavs would ease that pain. To that end, the Mavs took their turn as a Western Conference powerhouse making a blockbuster trade last month, sending a passel of money and players to New Jersey for 35-year-old future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd.

A handler cracking the whip about time, I asked Cuban about that trade, hardcore fans and how technology is changing the sports landscape.

You just made the big trade. Are you kind of going all in with it? You feel you're increasing the chances but shortening the window?

No, because how many times have we reinvented this team? You know, you lose a guy [Steve Nash] that your coach says may be too old and don't give him a long-term contract, then he goes on to win two MVPs -- but two years later we're in the Finals. We bring in Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker. Doesn't work. We get Jason Terry and Erick Dampier and it works.

Next page: You can't s--- on your fans. That's the damn truth, and you can't take 'em for granted