At Mavs media day Monday, Cuban took particular aim at Morey's "chemistry" comment, noting that the league's new collective bargaining agreement was the primary factor in his decision to break up the Mavs' le team. Cuban joked that he can't help being a bully and admitted he enjoys public exchanges with rivals, as he used to do with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
"The only reason I'm even responding is because I respect and like Daryl, who's smart," Cuban said. "He's got some Donald Trump in him where he doesn't really understand media all that well, but he's a smart guy and one of the smartest general managers in the league. So we can have some fun going back and forth."
Cuban, who has occasionally referenced the fact that the Rockets have won only one playoff series since 1997, laughed off Morey's claim that players would choose Houston over Dallas if they wanted to win.
"I'm not sure how he would know that," Cuban said. Cuban said Morey "kind of got it started" with the trade inquiry about Nowitzki in the summer of 2013 and again with his comments about developing players when Parsons signed with Dallas.
"If you throw the punches -- I just don't think he realized he threw them, so I had some fun responding," Cuban said. "There's no personal animosity whatsoever, but we're compe ive. Like I said, he's smart and it's fun to pick on him."
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