Mark Cuban has always been at the head of the class in engaging fans and transforming his franchise. When he bought the Mavericks in 2000, he changed the team's look, perked up the amenities in Dallas and completely changed the franchise. The Mavericks went from also-ran bottom feeder to perennial Playoff team and, eventually, NBA champion.
For the first time in 12 years though, the Mavericks missed the Playoffs. Cuban opted to go in a different direction after winning his championship, clearing cap room for the time after Dirk Nowitzki (which is coming).
The Master of the Shark Tank is always looking for new ideas and so he is reaching out to the fans to redesign the Mavericks look. Cuban posted on his blog that Dallas will change its uniforms for the 2016 season and he is looking for fans to submit their jersey ideas for the team's consideration:
The Mavs are going to re-do our uniforms for the 2015-16 season… if we get a unique and original design. What’s the best way to come up with creative ideas ? You ask for them. So we are going to crowd source the design and colors of our uniforms.
You know what an NBA uniform looks like. You know what the Mavs colors are for today and the past. We want some new ideas that stay true to our logo and at least close to our current color schemes. Show us what you got !
The contest is open until the end of May, and, yes, the Mavericks will own your design once it is submitted (sorry, Cuban says). There is also no guarantee the team will pick a fan's design.
But kudos to Cuban for opening things up to the fans and letting them participate. He has always been good about opening up to fans and involving them in the franchise at some level.
This is also not the first time Cuban did anything off the wall with jerseys. He had Sean P. Diddy Combs (or whatever his name is now) design a green jersey for the Mavericks that was worn from 2004-09 as an alternate jersey. Hopefully this effort will be better than that one.
