Harris should look to emulate Cuban - in certain matters

Joshua Harris can learn a lot from Mark Cuban. Ten years ago - even five years ago - the notion that Cuban could be the model for a prospective NBA owner would have seemed preposterous.

When he bought the Mavericks, Cuban was a brilliant but brash billionaire - a successful businessman who didn't know what he didn't know about basketball. He bristled when challenged and fought (and picked) more fights than was remotely advisable.

Shortly after he took control of the team, I interviewed him for a lengthy profile. I was living in Dallas then and working for the Village Voice Media paper there. We spent a long time talking over several days. Most of the conversations were in his giant, but largely unfurnished, mansion. The story, in the end, was about a bright but eccentric owner, a man who was by turns charming and unnecessarily confrontational.

Cuban didn't exactly love the piece. He dashed off a lengthy e-mail to me. The key line implored me to do untoward things to myself with a cheesesteak. That was Cuban then. No enemy, real or perceived, was too small.

This version of Cuban, the one who last week hoisted the NBA trophy - and later took it to bed with him like a lover long pursued - appears radically different. At the least, he has adapted and learned lessons from his many public mistakes.

Charles Barkley, ever shy, recently said that he doesn't see why people here in Philly are making such a big deal about the reported change of Sixers ownership. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, that owners don't matter, that players and general managers are far more important. And he's right - to a point. Good or great owners don't guarantee championships, but bad or awful owners can scuttle all hope, and quickly. Fred Wilpon, James Dolan, Daniel Snyder - you don't have to search too hard for rich men who tinkered with their toys and broke them in the end.

Cuban did a fair amount of damage in the beginning, warring with referees, with the media, even with commissioner David Stern. During the 2006 Finals, Cuban's hot temper caused him to melt down, and he was fined $250,000 for erupting about almost everything. During these playoffs, though, Cuban remained mute until the last buzzer went off and the trophy was handed over.