By Ana Kieu Total Apex Sports
Ex-Dallas Mavericks Vice President of Content Mike Marshall claimed, 鈥渘obody got playoff bonuses.鈥 Marshall exclusively spoke about his experiences with the Mavericks on 鈥淭he Dumb Zone鈥 podcast. Here鈥檚 why.
Ex-Dallas Mavericks VPs鈥 Claims
Former Dallas Mavericks employee Mike Marshall is speaking out about the internal culture of the Dallas Mavericks since the team was purchased by the Adelson family, making a big show of anger on social media among frustrated Mavericks fans.
Marshall, who worked as the team鈥檚 previous Vice President of Content, sat down with 鈥淭he Dumb Zone鈥 podcast this past Friday. Marshall and the hosts discussed the public relations firestorm the Mavericks organization faced after the Luka Doncic trade, along with other claims about the Mavericks鈥 new leadership regime.
The hosts asked Marshall about the differences between when Mark Cuban owned a majority stake in the team compared to the climate of the franchise under the Adelsons鈥 ownership, and the governorship of Patrick Dumont. Marshall responded, 鈥淣obody got playoff bonuses.鈥
Ex-Mavericks VP鈥檚 Outlook
Mike Marshall didn鈥檛 just stop after claiming nobody received playoff bonuses. Marshall went on to point out a difference in pay structures under the Adelson family.
Marshall said, 鈥淭he only thing that raised kind of a red flag in the first six months or so was nobody got playoff bonuses 鈥 We went to the NBA Finals, and we did not get playoff bonuses. Ninety-nine times out of 100, when an NBA team has gone to the playoffs or Finals, they have gotten playoff bonuses, I鈥檇 say. We worked for two and a half extra months. It was addressed as if it was going to happen. It was stated that it was going to happen, and then it didn鈥檛 get ultimately approved.
鈥淸They had] zero idea what they bought in terms of financials, books, future three-to-five-year plan, how this works, how this functions 鈥 Broadcast 鈥 I bring that up because the broadcast part links directly to that bonus situation. They bought the team and did not realize there was going to be this gap year before Amazon jumps in where we鈥檙e actually going to lose money on broadcast no matter what.
鈥淭hey got in and they had big plans early on, and they wanted to do this and that, and they realized鈥 someone tapped on the door and said, 鈥楿m, did you know we were going to lose tens of millions of dollars on broadcast, just because Bally is sinking and we aren鈥檛 on Amazon yet?鈥 And they did not know that, and everything changed from then. They had no appetite for a loss.鈥
Final Thoughts
Marshall proceeded to say the lack of playoff bonuses was just one of the aspects that 鈥減oisoned the atmosphere鈥 of the Dallas Mavericks organization. Marshall said the turning point in terms of ownership came in the aftermath of the Doncic trade, of which Mavericks fans immediately voiced their disapproval. Marshall said the Doncic trade wasn鈥檛 the reason he decided to leave the organization following the end of the 2024-25 NBA regular season. Marshall added that 鈥渟ome things got worse鈥 from there.
Ultimately, Marshall expressed frustration that the work he鈥檇 done for seven years of 鈥渉elping build鈥 Doncic鈥檚 legacy was essentially thrown out the window with the trade. Marshall鈥檚 department was allegedly forced to deal directly with the fan frustration on social media. Marshall concluded that a lack of professional sports experience among the Mavericks鈥 higher-ups contributed to his disappointment 鈥 and ultimate departure 鈥 from the team.