Mark Cuban shows world that he lacks vision for the game

Mark Cuban may be a nouveau-riche member of the Flat Earth Society, but he has deduced that some of his own players come from countries other than the US. This is a good start.

The owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Cuban has also discovered that these foreign players have obligations to their national basketball federations, which is perturbing Cuban no small amount.

If he pays them, Cuban reasons, they should not be out gallivanting in tournaments that only drain their vital resources.

"I prefer that, if you have a contract, you make a choice," Cuban said over the weekend. "We all make choices. If it's that important to me to play for my country, I'm not going to sign my contract."

Cuban's remarks stirred up the American coach with the most international experience, Larry Brown, currently of the Detroit Pistons. Brown, whose team played in New Jersey on Tuesday night, had already gone on record in his defense of the new international look in basketball.

"That's why we've got Asians and South Americans and African kids and European kids playing in our league," Brown was quoted by The Associated Press as saying on Monday.

"Most of the owners that have issues have benefited by that, so has the NBA," Brown continued. "All of a sudden now, when we've got what we want, `It's not good to send our players over.' It's not fair to the game."

Brown is the only American to win an Olympic gold medal as a player and as a coach, so he is entitled to praise the new look. From the first refugees from behind the Iron Curtain, there are now 67 foreign-born players in the NBA. (They are often the ones with good fundamentals, who do not try for style points on their layups.)

In fact, Cuban pays five of them: Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, Steve Nash of Canada, Tariq Abdul-Wahad of France, Eduardo Najera of Mexico and Jon Stefansson of Iceland. And Dallas has done well with them.

Most foreign players are obliged to play for their national federations during qualifying and world tournaments. They can refuse, they can come up with mysterious injuries, but most of them came up in their national systems, and respect the double obligations. It is how the system works.

The Dallas owner is not wrong about players being worn down, but soccer is far ahead of basketball in that respect. Players are burning out at an early age because of greed from league and national teams. Still, the success of soccer's World Cup every four years has produced envy in American sports leagues.

Basketball is a full generation behind the NHL, which raised its skill level with waves of Swedes, followed by Czechs and Russians. And the Japanese stars, following the Latin American stars, have brought new glamour to America's so-called national pastime.

Speaking of the Flat Earth Society, Major League Baseball is talking about a World Cup of its own by 2005. Baseball, however, has a major problem -- the paper cup issue.

One reason the US is not in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens is that Major League Baseball would not free up players for a qualifying round during its season. Another reason is that the Players Association does not want its bulked-up sluggers and pitchers giving a urine sample, particularly out of season, when the lads do their bodybuilding, untouched by baseball's meaningless new testing system.