The official NBA Draft show on Thursday was little more than a formality for those who follow the event closely on Twitter. Ahead of each pick, NBA insiders like The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski and ESPN's Marc Stein were breaking the news of which prospect was being selected minutes before the official announcement from Adam Silver.
In an effort to combat these spoilers, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban threatened to fire employees who leaked the team's pick.
"The closer it gets to the (No. 9) pick, the more tense it became," Cuban said Friday. "I said, 'OK, two things. One, when I'm on the phone, everybody shut up. Two, if this gets to Wojo [Adrian Wojnarowski] before our pick, whoever we find out did it is fired.'"
According to the Dallas News, a Mavs front office executive confirmed Cuban's account—adding that he asked everyone in the room to lay their phones on the conference table to "give Woj a pump fake."
As crazy as the antics sound, it actually worked. Of all the top 10 picks in the draft, only one—the Mavs pick at No. 9—wasn't leaked ahead of time by Wojnarowski. Call it petty. Call it humorous. Call it whatever you'd like. But in an effort to thwart a leak, Cuban executed his plan to perfection and got his man, N.C. State's Dennis Smith, in the process.
All in a day's work for the exuberant owner.
