Howard Eskin for some reason got to meet (presumed) and take his picture with Mark Cuban last night, and then went on the WIP Morning Show today and made it seem like he was cool with the mogul billionaire, who was in town to watch his Mavericks beat the Sixers.

Cuban does not think the Sixers know what they’re doing, and for that reason, he’s out:

“I talked to Mark Cuban last night and I said how do you like what this team does?” 94WIP’s Howard Eskin told the 94WIP Morning Showon Tuesday. “‘They have no idea what they’re doing,’ is what he said to me.”

“It’s a disgrace,” Eskin said. “It’s a joke. It is so awful.

“Sixers have W for win, L for loss, and MV. Moral victory. They beat the spread last night! So they have three columns, there’s a moral victory column!”

I do wonder how long Howard has been working on that joke about MV. But probably not as long as I was working on the Shark Tank joke.

The comment from Cuban, at least, is interesting. Cuban is great, but he takes curious stances on progressive things. For instance, he hates net neutrality, which is in direct opposition to how most free-thinking people feel about broadband providers favoring access to certain broadcasts and pieces of content. So it’s not wholly surprising that he doesn’t buy the Sixers’ pitch. He may be right, but his word shouldn’t be taken as gospel. Oh no, the eminently smart Cuban hates it, therefore it’s doomed to fail. I like Cuban, but think he, along with Howard, is on the wrong side of the fence here. The Sixers are in position to turn a corner next season, with Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, potentially Dario Saric, and four first round draft picks. That’s the moment. If they kick the can down the road again, I’m done. But they are set up for success.

That said, that GIF of Jahlil Okafor last night is telling. Some people on Twitter accused me of having an Eskin-like take. I don’t think so. We’re 11 games into the season and the star center – the future – is already moping down the tunnel after games. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, and you just don’t know how it will impact players. This is why there were reports that Okafor – or anyone – didn’t want to be drafted by the Sixers. There’s not a worse place in basketball to be right now if you’re a good player. It’s a basketball struggle.

Other bits on Eskin’s appearance:

  • It’s, apparently, brought to you by Audi of Devon. If I’m Audi of Devon, I’m advertising on this site and not with dinosaurs like Eskin. First of all, I’m willing to bet our audience has much higher average household income than most of the folks who listen to WIP. Second, the average age of Eskin’s core audience has to be 60+. Audis aren’t for old people. Lexuses are. Our 29-year-old male reader with an advancing income of over $80k is the perfect target for, say, an A3 or A4. So, call me, Audi of Devon. Stop wasting your money with WIP.
  • Eskin sees everything in binary terms. “Either you win or you lose.” Not true. The Sixers season is lost. So the individual losses don’t matter. What matters is how guys like Okafor and Nerlens Noel, and maybe a couple of other sleepers (honestly, I’m not sure I can name more than three other players), play.
  • Angelo and Howard were ready to jump all over the Sixers for tweeting out that they won last night. The problem is it wasn’t them, it was Bleacher Report:
Voila_Capture 2015-11-17_09-19-05_AM

pic via (@_TimmyJimmy)

Rhea quickly corrected them, but that wasn’t enough to remove the froth from Cataldi’s and Eskin’s lips. It interfered with their (mostly Eskin’s) Sixers are pathetic narrative.