Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban walks off the court after their loss against the Boston Celtics in game three of the 2024 NBA Finals at American Airlines Center.
© Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Pablo Torre is enjoying a well-earned victory lap, and he wants a familiar sparring partner along for the ride. Fresh off the NBA handing the Los Angeles Clippers a historic punishment, the journalist stopped by the Rich Eisen Show and floated a playful proposition aimed at Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks minority owner who spent months questioning his reporting.
Channeling his inner Shark Tank investor, Torre pitched Cuban directly. He offered the billionaire a percentage of his show in exchange for one unlimited episode the two could record together, no time limit and no restrictions on the conversation.
“I just want Mark back,” Torre said, framing the offer as a genuine olive branch rather than a taunt. He explained that both men, deep down, actually want to sit across from each other again, and he made a point of thanking Cuban for reaching out after the ruling.
💻 @PabloTorre
An offer for @mcuban: pic.twitter.com/UcKxuUJy2d
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) September 3, 2026
The backdrop makes the gesture notable. The NBA suspended Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for a year, along with team executives Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker, stripped the franchise of five future first-round picks and fined the team $30 million after determining it circumvented the salary cap through Kawhi Leonard's endorsement deal with Aspiration. Leonard was fined $700,000. Torre's reporting on the arrangement earned him a Pulitzer Prize.
Cuban had been one of Torre's loudest skeptics. The Mavericks minority owner publicly aligned himself with Team Ballmer, sparred with the reporter across social media and even appeared on his podcast, at one point insisting Torre had “nothing conclusive” on the Clippers owner.
The tune changed once the league ruled. After the punishment came down, Cuban publicly congratulated Torre, a reversal that fans and observers were quick to highlight. Torre appears eager to turn that moment of goodwill into something bigger than a social media exchange.
Whether Cuban bites on the equity pitch remains to be seen, and Torre was clearly having fun with the framing. Still, the offer underlined a real point. After a year of public back-and-forth over one of the biggest scandals in recent NBA memory, the reporter who was proven right would rather share a mic with his fiercest critic than keep score.