NBA Insider with Ken Berger

First thing’s first: I like the trade. I’ll miss Jamal, but anything that makes the Knicks more athletic and better defensively, without adding more than two years of money, I’m all for that.

Now, for the less important news. I’m saying good-bye to Newsday today after eight great years. And sadly, like Stephon Marbury, I will not be getting a buyout from James Dolan. (Everybody now … ah-one, ah-two, ah-three … The Knicks are owned by Cablevision, which also owns Newsday.)

This is all for yucks, of course. This has been a great run for me, by far the most rewarding years of my life and career. During six years on the Jets beat, I made some lifelong friends. I can’t even describe how good those times were. All I can say to my colleagues who are covering that team in the new digs at Florham Park is this: Roll up a paper ball in my honor and pelt Cimini with it. :)

Being your NBA columnist has been an honor, too – as has working with King Fixer, who will be expanding his horizons to write about league stuff in addition to the Knicks from time to time.

For those who want to check in with me, I’ll be going to CBSSports.com to be their NBA columnist. It’s a new chapter, a new adventure, and a new opportunity in my career. I’ll miss all my colleagues and the readers – even those who didn’t much care for my opinions – but sometimes in life it’s time to try something new.

In addition to the unbeatable assignments and great times professionally, my personal life has changed immeasurably since I arrived at Newsday in April 2000. My wife and I have been blessed with two unbelievable boys – neither of whom, sadly, stands much of a chance of playing in the NBA. (Note: Alan Hahn is at least a foot taller than both of those boys’ parents.)

I lost my dad on Thanksgiving Day, 2005 – Nov. 24 – and wrote about that in my farewell blog when I left the Jets beat two years ago. The lives of sports writers are inexorably linked to their jobs. I’ll never forget huddling in a Courtyard Marriott in Massachusetts with my brother and working on the story of Herman Edwards’ departure – and the Jets’ search for a new coach – in the middle of settling my dad’s affairs. Time marches on. Coincidentally, I will be starting the new chapter in my life on Monday, which will be Nov. 24. I trust they have Internet up there …

Those of you who’ve been reading closely know that my time of late has been occupied with blistering Stephon Marbury and asserting that Mike D’Antoni is right to sit him down and move forward without him. Maybe someday down the road, Steph and I will cross paths and laugh about all of this.

It was interesting, because my last assignment for Newsday – the Cavs-Nets game Tuesday night – was highlighted by one such moment.

In the early days of Laveranues Coles’ career with the Jets, he wasn’t nearly as personable and endearing as he is now. At one point during our working relationship, he’d asked me to get out of his way in the locker room, referring to me as “Little Media Man.” This resulted in years of punch lines in the media workroom at Weeb Ewbank Hall, which was one of the funniest and best places to work in journalism.

There was a day when Edwards decided to solve the locker-room access problem by giving the beat writers a second chance to interview players after practice each day. On the first day of this new policy, I approached Coles at his locker. He started berating me, telling me, “Ain’t no media allowed in here,” etc. I told him that Herm had, in fact, changed the policy to allow us in the locker room after practice.

LC didn’t like this, and told me I should go get a real job, such as working at Jillian’s. I informed him that this – aggravating professional athletes – was my job.

“That ain’t no job, writin’ paragraphs,” LC sniffed.

On Tuesday, I was walking across the IZOD Center court at halftime, trying to get within earshot of Jay-Z to ask him about his friend, LeBron James. As I walked past the scorer’s table, who do I see sitting there in a courtside seat all by himself? Laveranues Coles!

I approached him, and we shook hands and reminisced like old friends. I didn’t remind him of our past verbal sparring. I didn’t tell him how cool it was that I would bump into him during my last assignment for Newsday, given that the very first story I wrote as a Newsday employee was about Laveranues Coles.

So with that, Little Media Man, a.k.a. K-Berg, a.k.a. your privileged NBA columnist and blog host, would like to say good-bye and thanks for the memories. See you in the funny papers.

Some interesting facts, and slants on the facts, are beginning to emerge in the wake of the SEC's insider trading lawsuit against Mark Cuban.

One of Cuban's attorneys, Stephen Best, posted an interesting transcript of an interview with the former Mamma.com CEO conducted by his defense attorneys. In the interview, Guy Faure admits not being able to recall what Cuban's response was when he told the billionaire he had some confidential information to share with him.

Cuban's Attorney, Christopher Clark: We spoke earlier about you were telling Mr. Cuban in words or substance : “I have confidential information for you”.

Faure: No, I do not.

Best goes on to write in Cuban's blog: "The SEC knows this-they have the transcript, yet they brought the case anyway. Why? Do they have a different statement from Mr. Faure ?

"Why did the SEC end their multi-year investigation of Mamma.com Inc. for alleged securities laws violations days before interviewing present and former Mamma.com Inc. executives about this matter? Was the timing a coincidence? We think not."

Cuban's brother, Brian, an attorney, posted on his own blog under the headline, "My brother is not Martha Stewart."

And Floyd Norris, the chief financial correspondent for The New York Times, had a fascinating post in his blog in which he shares the text of a threatening email sent from an SEC attorney to Cuban during the insider trading investigation. The lawyer, Jeffrey Norris -- no relation to the Times writer -- chastised Cuban in the email for his role in supporting the film "Loose Change," which was highly critical of the Bush Administration.

The funny thing is, Norris' blog on the Times' Web site isn't labeled as a blog, even though that's what it is. The reporters who chatted with Cuban before the Mavericks-Knicks game at the Garden on Sunday night had a good laugh with him when Cuban was informed that the Times was no longer using the term "blog." Cuban suggested months ago that newspapers were devaluing their product by lumping it in with Joe Sixpack blogging in his basement. (Neil Best, no relation to Cuban's attorney, blogs in his basement. But he's a pro -- and gets good traffic.)

For this and other reasons, this Cuban investigation doesn't pass the smell test. There is no way he is dumb, arrogant, or naive enough to make a monumental and obvious mistake like this. There's got to be more to the story than we know.

Mark Cuban has posted a response from one of his attorneys, Ralph Ferrara, on his blog. Here's the link, and here's the text:

Nov 17th 2008 1:20PM

Mr. Cuban stated, “I am disappointed that the Commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff’s win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff’s process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government’s claims are false and they will be proven to be so.”

I know nothing of the facts of this case, but I will say this: Cuban had better be careful. Martha Stewart didn't go to prison for insider trading. She went to prison for obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators.

A few minutes ago, I spoke with Scott Friestad, an SEC enforcement officer who has worked on the entire Cuban case. He confirmed that his office spoke with Cuban several times during its investigation, and last year deposed him once under oath. Whether Cuban did anything wrong, we don't know. But he'd better hope that his sworn testimony is deemed truthful by the SEC.

No criminal charges have been filed, but Friestad said that in cases such as this, criminal prosecutors often go after a defendant in a civil insider trading complaint based on their sworn testimony taken during the investigation.

This is big, important, and potentially devastating stuff for the highest-profile owner in the NBA.

Speaking of which, the league won't comment on the Cuban lawsuit.

"We don't comment on matters such as these," NBA spokeswoman Maureen Coyle said.

This is the last thing the NBA needed. A former referee already in prison, and a prominent team owner sued for insider trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban with insider trading, alleging Monday that the Internet billionaire avoided more than $750,000 in losses by selling shares based on confidential information.

Hours after learning that his 6.3 percent ownership stake in Mamma.com would be diluted by a discounted public offering, Cuban ordered his broker to sell his entire stake of 600,000 shares, according to the complaint, filed in the Northern District of Texas.

According to the SEC complaint, Cuban was informed of the offering plan by the CEO of Mamma.com, which is now known as Copernic Inc., on June 28, 2004. Having agreed to keep the information confidential, and bound by SEC regulations forbidding trades made on such information, Cuban "became very upset and angry during the conversation" and said he did not support or wish to participate in the public offering, according to the civil lawsuit.

“Well, now I’m screwed,” Cuban told the executive, according to the complaint. “I can’t sell.”

But that evening, Cuban sold 10,000 shares of the stock at an average price of $13.4990 per share, the SEC alleged. The next day, he sold the remaining 590,000 shares at an average price of $13.2937.

On June 30, the first trading day after the private investment in public equity (PIPE) was announced, Mamma.com shares plunged 8.5 percent to a closing price of $11.99. Shares continued to crater and were trading at $8.00 on July 8, 2004 -- 39 percent off their pre-announcement price.

Copernic's stock has continued to falter, and in mid-day trading Monday was at $0.25 per share.

The SEC's lawsuit requests a jury trial and asks that Cuban repay the $750,000 in losses he avoided, plus interest, and an undisclosed civil penalty.

Cuban, who was in New York Sunday for a game between his team and the Knicks, did not respond to an email seeking comment Monday on the allegations.

Here are some links:

The complete text of the SEC complaint against Cuban, from Forbes.com.

The Dallas Morning News story.

Copernic's Web site.

Here I am at the Garden, watching the Knicks embarrass a shell of a team from Oklahoma City -- a team that looks like the worst in the NBA. And I'm not just talking about their uniforms. People are so bored, they've broken out into the "Ole, ole, ole, ole" soccer chant. I hate soccer.

Before the game -- which seems like a long, long time ago -- I asked Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo for his take on teams paying players not to play. The Knicks are doing it with Stephon Marbury, the Grizzlies with Antoine Walker, the Bucks with Damon Jones, and the Pacers with Jamaal Tinsley.

"Each situation is different," Carlesimo said. "I just think that people are coming to realize that it’s not always the best five players or the most talent that wins. No one ever wins in this league without having a lot of talent. But I think a lot of teams are winning in this league. Teams are winning with defense and playing together. It’s become pretty evident that it’s not just about talent. There’s other factors playing into it.

"I don’t know if that played a part in the decisions also. But I see people a little bit more concerned nowadays than they used to be with chemistry and how the parts fit together and not just the pure talent."

That creates angst in the players' association and among agents, but it makes for better basketball. Carlesimo is the perfect guy to comment on this. You may recall he had a bit of an altercation with Latrell Sprewell in Golden State 11 years ago. In those days, the player had the advantage and the coach had no power. If this trend with Marbury, Tinsley, et al means power is shifting back to the coaches, I’m all for it.

I'm not trying to start any static here, because I like Chris Mullin. No self-respecting St. John's fan from the program's glory years could have anything but nice things to say about Chris Mullin.

But I'm looking at the Warriors' hiring of Larry Harris as an assistant coach, and I'm seeing more trouble for Mullin in the Bay Area.

He's already had his right-hand man removed -- assistant G.M. Pete D'Alessandro was replaced by assistant coach Larry Riley -- and now an accomplished G.M. has been ushered into the organization. Harris has high-powered representation, and everyone around the league knows he was treated shabbily in Milwaukee. I can't imagine Harris is going to Golden State to be an assistant coach for long.

At the end in Milwaukee, his hands were tied and he wasn't allowed to make any trades -- otherwise, Zach Radolph would be a Buck -- and then his legs were cut out from under him entirely.

The Bucks wound up with one of the bright minds in the game, John Hammond, running the show. With Hammond -- Joe Dumars' longtime right-hand man in Detroit -- the Bucks are going places. But if I'm Chris Mullin in Golden State, I have to wonder even more if I'm going places with a possible replacement sitting on the bench for the rest of the season, evaluating the talent from a courtside seat.

I'm here at the 'ZOD, about to watch what quite possibly will be the worst NBA game all season -- Pacers-Nets. No Devin Harris for the Nets; no Troy Murphy or Mike Dunleavy for the Pacers. Yawn.

I can report that the Nets have come up with the most creative and altruistic ticket giveaway I've ever encountered. As David Waldstein reported in the Star-Ledger today, the team will provide up to four free tickets to each unemployed fan who submits a resume to the Nets Job Bank. Fans who participate also will get access to a job fair at the IZOD Center on Nov. 22.

"Hopefully they'll come out and experience the Nets, and then when times get better they'll invest in us, because we invested in them," team president Brett Yormark said. "No other team is doing that, and I think it's the appropriate thing to do, because times are tough."

This is a great idea. Applause, applause, applause. (Tom Ziller of Fanhouse likes it, too.)

The team will make 1,500 free tickets available for the promotion ... 300 for each of five games.