The Mavericks roster has often failed to reflect the demographics of the league. There are a number of reasons, some more justifiable than others
In 2020, the NBA was 74.2% black and 16.9% white. It seems every decade, the white NBA player becomes less relevant. Yet one franchise has often kept the dream of mediocre white guys alive: the Dallas Mavericks. In 15 of the last 21 Mavs seasons, there were three or more white players on the 12-man active roster. In more than half of those 15 seasons there were at least four white players, not to mention at least two starting white players. The Mavericks, in the literal sense, do not look like the rest of the league.
It’s tempting to put this down to racism or at least unconscious bias on the part of the Mavericks and their owner, Mark Cuban. But, if anything, the opposite is true. Although the Mavericks have a dubious history of toxic workplace culture when it comes to female employees, Cuban has thrown his support behind Black Lives Matter and has appointed a black CEO (Cynthia Marshall), president (Terdema Ussery), head coaches (Jason Kidd, Quinn Buckner, Jim Cleamons and Avery Johnson) and general manager (Nico Harrison) during his time in Dallas.
