- Portland Trail Blazers owner billionaire Tom Dundon is generating lots of headlines for his cost-cutting.
- The businessman's style is reminiscent of the hardcore culture that is spreading across tech and the wider business world.
- Mark Cuban told Business Insider that the era of increasingly expensive franchises adds pressure to position for success.
Despite playing on the hardwood, NBA players are used to a pretty cushy life.
The billionaire owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, Tom Dundon, appears to be changing that with moves that echo the hardcore grindset culture increasingly popular in the business world, where employees are expected to do more with less.
Of course, the Trail Blazers are a professional sports franchise. But they've recently come under scrutiny for frugal measures that have gotten attention across social media. Simply put, they're pulling back on amenities that have become industry standard.
Dundon, who made his fortune in subprime auto loans, led an investor group that in March paid $4.25 billion for the Trail Blazers. Forbes estimates that Dundon's net worth is $2.3 billion.
One decision that drew criticism was not having two-way players — whose contracts allow them to split time between the top-level NBA and the developmental G League — travel with the team, according to The Rose Garden Report. The players aren't expected to participate in the high-stakes games, but are still considered a crucial part of the team.
Under Dundon, late hotel checkouts are no longer allowed for any non-players or coaches. According to The Athletic, this concerned interim head coach Tiago Splitter, who was worried about whether the team's masseuse had enough room to work before the Blazers' opening-round game of the NBA Play-In tournament, where a win would secure a spot in the NBA playoffs.
Dundon has also reportedly ruffled feathers with Splitter by interviewing a wide range of potential head coaches even as interim head coach led the franchise to the Play-In game victory and thus secured the Blazers' first NBA playoff appearance in five years.
Even fans aren't immune from the cost-cutting efforts. The Blazers opted not to drape fans' seats with free T-shirts ahead of a playoff home game, ESPN reported. In contrast, the San Antonio Spurs, who the Blazers are up against in round one, handed out color-coordinated shirts to their fans ahead of Game 1.
Billionaire Mark Cuban, whose Dallas Mavericks were known for their perks, told Business Insider that the ballooning value of teams has drastically changed the equation.
"In an era where teams cost billions and billions of dollars and require a list of investors and even private equity, we are far from the world when I bought the Mavs and wrote the check by myself," Cuban wrote in an email to Business Insider. "I could cover the losses. They were my responsibility. With investors, it's not the same thing."
Cuban said the pressure is on owners to make sure they can position their franchises successfully.
"The only way to get the team in a position to truly succeed and ever even considering paying a tax is to get to at least break even," he said.
Dundon implemented similar cost-cutting changes when he bought the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes in 2017. The Hurricanes have made the playoffs every year since 2018 after a nearly decade-long drought before he took over.
The NBA isn't the NHL, though. Dundon's actions have drawn so much attention that even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been asked about the cost cutting.
"People are starting to say he's not willing to spend the money," Silver recently told The Barstool podcast, "Pardon my Take." "You gotta remember, this is a guy who just won a bidding war, call it $4.5 billion to buy a team, and they're calling him cheap. It just can't be."
Silver said the Hurricanes' success shows Dundon "knows what he's doing."
"His mindset is — and I'm just getting to know him — but I don't think it has as much to do with the cost of the T-shirts or wherever he's saving money. It's a mindset on how to run a business," Silver said.
A change for a team once owned by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen
While penny-pinching sports owners are nothing new, Dundon's approach stands in stark contrast to Paul Allen, the legendary Microsoft cofounder, who, during his tenure, had his players' cars washed and detailed during practice.
Allen, who died in 2018 due to complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, passed on ownership to his sister, Jody, who helped manage the franchise until its sale to Dundon.
In his obituary, The Athletic noted that Allen's Trail Blazers were among the first to have a private jet. Former coach Nate McMillan recalled that after Allen hosted the team on his yacht, he said the players could have the keys if they won the NBA title.
"He said the team could cruise wherever they wanted to," McMillan told The Athletic.
Cuban was known for his unconventional approach to ownership. Cuban's approach also extended to how he lavished the Dallas Mavericks. In fact, Cuban ensured that, regardless of the outcome, the Mavericks' opponent received a decadent meal.
"I wanted to embarrass other owners," the notoriously competitive Cuban said during a 2023 episode of "All The Smoke" podcast cohosted by former, longtime NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
"Guys we would trade for would tell me, 'We just went from the outhouse to the penthouse.' And I'm like, OK, I just want to rub it in a little bit."
As for Dundon, Cuban said their new owner "knows basketball."
"He loves the game," Cuban told Business Insider. "He will be great for the Blazers."
