Los Angeles, CA

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban likes his chances against a Howard-Nash beefed up Lakers squad, who may still "stink".

The outspoken businessman is trying to point out that looking like a winner doesn't guarantee success.

Referring to the current Lakers as a quote-unquote super team, he pointed out that an earlier version of a Lakers "super team" faltered.

He was referring to the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal headlined Lakers that added aging superstars Karl Malone and Gary Payton.

It fell short by losing in the NBA Finals.

Cuban may be driving a legitimate point after they extended the Lakers' winless preseason to the first game of the regular season by beating them, 99-91.

Adding veteran Steve Nash and in-his-prime Dwight Howard to boost its starting five along with Bryant, Pau Gasol and Meta World Peace, the Lakers are favored to top the West and meet another "super team", the Miami Heat, in the Finals.

"I don't know, I don't care, I just hope they suck," Cuban said with a laugh when asked to evaluate the Lakers. "You know, like any other team."

Calling future hall of famers Nash and Howard "phenomenal", he insists that it takes a team to go all the way.

"They've got to come together and play as a team," he quipped.

Cuban further tried to lift his hopes by also citing the mid-90s Houston Rockets who added Charles Barkley to play alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

"Houston went for it when they got (Charles) Barkley and it didn't happen," he states. " Guys have shelf lives. They don't play forever, so at some point, you have to re-formulate your team. Everybody's got to go through it."

To further his hopefulness, he recalled that just two seasons ago his Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat "super team" in the finals.

He seemed to forget that his current roster no longer has key championship players Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry.

 

Copyright © 2012 AHN. All rights reserved