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Cuban proposes NBA version of World Cup

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Mark Cuban wants to create a World Cup-style tournament featuring NBA players.

Appearing on Carmelo Anthony's "What's in Your Glass?" podcast, the Dallas Mavericks owner said that he brought up the idea of a World Cup with NBA players to former commissioner David Stern and current commissioner Adam Silver.

"Here's what I told Adam: I think we should start our own World Cup," Cuban said. "You know how in soccer, right, they send 21 and under to the Olympics and then they have their own World Cup and all the teams get paid, all the players get paid, right? And so I've been arguing for this for 20 years.

"Look, we're sending our best stars to the Olympics - and guys don't get hurt a lot but they do get worn down, particular this year. All it does is it makes the International Olympic Committee billions of dollars. That money should be going to you and us, right? Literally, if we did our own World Cup, could we get a billion dollars in revenue split 51% players, 49% teams? Yeah, I think we could. Particularly after a few years."

The tournament will likely remain a pipe dream, as Cuban noted that both Stern and Silver rejected his idea.

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