Posted on 02/24/2004 7:11:47 PM PST by AgentEcho
DALLAS (Reuters) - The rule book for a new reality TV show is simple -- win over one of the NBA's most notoriously hotheaded owners and walk away with $1 million.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the billionaire bad boy of the National Basketball Association, will join the likes of new reality TV star and real estate tycoon Donald Trump when Cuban steps onto center court for a show on ABC called "The Benefactor."
Cuban has calmed down in recent seasons as he sits near the team's bench, but he has paid the NBA just over $1 million in fines for his tremendous tirades at courtside.
"The Benefactor" will air for six episodes this summer. Cuban will give $1 million to a complete stranger after he puts contestants through a series of tests and tribulations to see who is the most worthy person to take his money.
Cuban said he wants everyone who has ever dreamed of getting rich to apply for the show. The field of applicants will be whittled down to 30 who will then battle for Cuban's money.
"I'm not looking to find out who is the grossest, funniest, prettiest, smartest or able to go without food or water the longest," Cuban said in a statement.
"The right person is going to get on my good side at the right time, and whoever that is going to walk away with a check from me for $1 million," he said.
Cuban has earned the reputation as a hothead for berating NBA officials and the respect of the league for turning the beleaguered Mavericks into one of the strongest teams in the NBA.
Cuban sold a company he co-founded called broadcast.com to Internet firm Yahoo in 1999 for $5.7 billion.
He has matched his fines to the NBA with donations to charities and recently established the Fallen Patriot Fund to help the families of U.S. military personnel who were killed or seriously injured during the war in Iraq.
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He's not a "bad boy," just an overly exuberant fan who happens to own his favorite team. Yes, he had a lot to learn when he first became an owner, but he's not a "bad boy" -- he doesn't impregnate a string of women nor get arrested for beating his wife and he doesn't shoot his limo driver nor toss obnoxious fans through plate glass windows.
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