Cuban, ESPN come to agreement on game coverage
The standoff between Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and ESPN's digital reporting arm appears over after the two sides released a statement Friday pledging to work together in covering games.
"We are appreciative that ESPN will now commit to Mavs fans and all NBA fans with links to local and team-provided coverage of every NBA game," Cuban said.
Cuban revoked the media credentials for ESPN NBA writers Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon last week, later explaining he was concerned about less press coverage amid the emergence of machine-learning technology that could one day render on-site reporting a thing of the past. The Associated Press is currently using the automated technology with minor-league baseball coverage.
"Mark and I both agree that content written by individuals on site is much better," ESPN president John Skipper said. "To be clear, ESPN has never contemplated automated reporting for our NBA coverage."
Skipper added, somewhat surprisingly, that ESPN's digital platforms will now link to team websites such as Mavs.com in their game recaps.