Mark Cuban Thinks Russell Westbrook Isn’t In The NBA MVP Conversation

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban doesn’t appear to be all that fond of Russell Westbrook. The outspoken owner of the Mavericks has on more than one occasion downplayed how good Westbrook is and did once again on Sunday.

Apparently, Cuban believes the current race of NBA MVP is down to only two players. Neither one of those players is Westbrook. The controversial 58-year-old owner thinks the leaders of the pack in the MVP hunt is Cleveland Cavaliers’ superstar LeBron James and scoring machine James Harden of the Houston Rockets.

Before his team took and ultimately beat the Thunder on Sunday, Cuban said Westbrook is not in the conversation for MVP, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN:

Cuban said Sunday that the MVP battle is a “toss-up” between Houston’s James Harden and Cleveland’s LeBron James, with San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard also deserving of mention in the conversation. Where is Westbrook in the mix?

“He’s not,” Cuban said while going through his pregame exercise routine ahead of Dallas’ 104-89 win over OKC.

The Mavericks beat the Thunder in convincing fashion on Sunday night in Dallas. Westbrook finished with a game-high 29 points but fell well short of his patented triple-doubles finishing with six rebounds and five assists.

Dallas went on to pull out a 15-point victory over the visiting Thunder while relatively containing Westbrook from beating them by himself.

As for Cuban, this likely won’t be the last time the owner will publicly denounce Westbrook in some form or another. Cuban has also said in the past that he doesn’t believe the UCLA product is a “superstar,” and clearly doesn’t seem to have changed his stance.