More info out on Cuban-Nelson relationship

Published July 24, 2009 at 2:30 p.m.

The transcripts from the court battles between Mark Cuban and Don Nelson include some interesting background information. It's worth checking out here. Some parts of the story (oh, and :

On Steve Nash (there's an excerpt of how Mark Cuban explains how Steve Nash left Dallas here):

A week after that draft, point guard Steve Nash stunned the Mavericks by signing with Phoenix as a free agent.

Nelson testified that he spent much of the 2004-05 season lamenting Cuban's decision not to match Phoenix's offer and keep Nash. Nelson said he wasn't involved in the decision because, by then, he and Cuban weren't talking.

Nelson also said the signing of free-agent center Erick Dampier that off-season made matters worse. He said Cuban circumvented him on that decision by consulting with Nelson's future replacement, Avery Johnson - even though Johnson was a free-agent player at the time.

"I think Dampier signed for more than we were even talking about [for] Steve Nash," Nelson testified. "And I considered him to be a very doggy player that they totally overpaid."

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