Growing up in the 90s, my favorite WWF superstar was Bret “The Hitman” Hart. The Excellence of Execution. The guy who could lock in a Sharpshooter so tight you’d tap out before you even realized your knee ligaments were gone. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve also taken on another one of Bret’s signature moves: **the eternal grudge**. Hart turned grudge-holding into a second career. Some of it justified (Bill Goldberg basically ended his life in the ring with a concussion-inducing kick), some of it less so (his decades-long “Montreal Screwjob” world tour). Either way, if you crossed Bret Hart, you were on his enemies list forever.
I respect that. Which is why, last week, after chronicling Charles Barkley’s “[the Wolves aren’t relevant](/timberwolves-analysis/61065/charles-barkley-says-the-timberwolves-arent-relevant)” drive-by on Bill Simmons’ podcast, I’ve found my next opponent: Mark Cuban. Yes, _that_ Mark Cuban—former Mavs majority owner, Shark Tank pitchman, and apparently, part-time referee scout.
So Cuban hops on Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye’s “Road Trippin’” podcast (which is can’t-miss programming if you enjoy LeBron bootlicking) and out of nowhere he decides to drop this grenade: **Anthony Edwards commits a lane violation on every free throw.** Every. Free. Throw.
First: who is even watching for this in September? We’re weeks away from training camp, half the league is in Bora Bora, and Cuban is diagramming Ant’s toe placement like it’s the Zapruder film. Second: if we’re calling out Ant for leaning forward on his release, shouldn’t we also maybe, I don’t know, mention that half the league travels on every other drive, palms the ball like it’s a grapefruit, or that the defending champions turned the reach-in-foul into an art form?
But Cuban didn’t just throw this out and move on. He leaned into it, blaming the lane violation no-call as a reason the Mavericks lost a game to the Wolves. He framed it as if the refs are giving Edwards an unfair advantage. Anthony Edwards, the guy who gets hacked like he’s in a Bruce Lee movie every time he drives, _isn’t getting called enough for stepping on a line_. That’s the take.
What makes this grudge-worthy is the timing. Just days before, Cuban defended Steve Ballmer’s Clippers against what might go down as the most egregious salary cap scandal in league history. Fifty million dollars funneled into a shell company that did nothing, which then “employed” Kawhi Leonard in a no-show job worth $28 million. Cuban’s stance? _No way Ballmer could be that stupid._
Really? We’re talking about the Clippers here. This is franchise that once traded an unprotected first-round pick for Mo Williams. That first-round pick? None other than Kyrie Irving. This is the franchise that Donald Sterling ran for three decades. Saying “the Clippers could never be that dumb” is like saying “Fast & Furious could never make another sequel.” Of course they could.
So Cuban will defend one of the dumbest, most blatant cap-circumventing scandals in recent history… but Ant stepping six inches forward at the line? Let’s start petitioning the league to end this injustice.
Look, if the league decides to crack down on lane violations, fine. Ant will adjust in two weeks, his free-throw percentage will likely remain exactly the same, and we’ll all move on. This isn’t the NBA’s version of Deflategate. But when a rival Western Conference owner singles out _our guy_, it becomes personal.
Maybe Cuban’s salty that Ant and the Wolves effectively ended the Luka Doncic era in Dallas on Christmas Day. Maybe he’s worried his new golden ticket, Cooper Flagg, isn’t going to sniff Ant’s level. Maybe there’s a secret Shark Tank beef with A-Rod. Who knows? What we do know is this: Anthony Edwards is the face of the league’s future, and he’s doing it despite whistles that never come his way.
So yes, Mark Cuban, congratulations. You’ve earned yourself a permanent spot on the Wolves grudge wall next to Charles Barkley and “Inside the NBA.” Like my childhood hero Bret Hart taught me, the Sharpshooter of grudges never lets go.
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