Cuban: Dirk's a superstar because he's consistently won 50 games

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban drew a great deal of heat Monday afternoon when he called Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook "an All-Star, but not a superstar." It was an overly harsh criticism for a player who had been torching his team through four games to the tune of 23.5 points, 11.8 assists, and six assists.

When asked to elaborate on what a superstar-like player is to him, Cuban had a particular player in mind who he believes has proven time and time again what it means to be on that level.

"When you look at Dirk (Nowitzki) - I'm not going to talk about other teams' players other than what I just said - Dirk for 15 years won 50 games no matter what," Cuban said. "We put Moe, Larry, and Curly next to him and he won 50 games ... and I know there's your headline."

With Kevin Durant sidelined for all but 27 games last season, Westbrook was left to carry the Thunder. His efforts weren't enough to carry OKC to the playoffs, though, as the squad failed to qualify with a 45-37 record.

"Russell's certainly an All-Star, but I consider Durant a superstar," Cuban added. "You look at Dirk all those years to now, he carries teams to 50 wins. To me that's (what makes a superstar) ... when you're by yourself ... it wasn't until we got (Jason Kidd) that we had another Hall of Famer. So, to go the 15 years where Dirk won 50, that's a superstar. There's only a few guys that you put them on any team and they'll win 50 games. To me, that's the definition of a superstar."

In a prime example of cruel irony, non-superstar (in Cuban's opinion) Westbrook led the Thunder to a 118-104 win in Game 5 on Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena with a near triple-double of 36 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists, thus eliminating the Mavericks from the playoffs.