Cuban: NBA product would be better if Americans played in Slovenia 1st

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has never shied away from speaking his mind.

Recently, he had some choice words regarding America's youth basketball culture.

"If we took our best kids, and seven years before they are McDonald’s All-Americans, we sent them over to Slovenia to get an education, the league would be a thousand times better," Cuban told George Efkarpides of Eurohoops. "They just learn how to play basketball while our guys learn how to taunt and put together mixtapes."

Cuban's opinion may be influenced by rookie phenom Luka Doncic, who has taken the league by storm and helped the Mavericks to a 15-15 start.

Before suiting up in an NBA game, the 19-year-old was a EuroLeague champion and MVP, earning league first-team honors in 2018 with Real Madrid.

Cuban believes Doncic's experience and upbringing have helped his basketball IQ.

"It is important because you’re used to people being older than you, but I think he just learned how to play basketball and that’s the biggest gift," Cuban said.

In 29 games played, Doncic is averaging a team-high 18.8 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting.