The Build
Season 1
The Greatest Show on Turf (1999 St. Louis Rams)
Mark Cuban: The Man Who Couldn't Let Go (Part 3)
Mark Cuban: The Man Who Couldn't Let Go, Part 2
Mark Cuban: The Man Who Couldn't Let Go, Part 1
by Josh Zenilman and Ryan Lugash
In August 1999, the St. Louis Rams were 200-to-1 longshots to win the Super Bowl. Their starting quarterback had just torn his ACL. The backup had been stocking shelves at a grocery store in Iowa three years earlier for $5.50 an hour. By February, they'd built the most explosive offense in NFL history and won the championship on the last play of the game.
After the sale closed, a phone lit up in Dallas, and the man who built the Mavericks learned his franchise player was gone, traded without his knowledge, to a team across the country. Part 3 of a 3-part series from 'The Build' follows the trade, the collapse, and the bid to buy it all back: the final chapter (for now) of a book still being written.
After the confetti fell, Mark Cuban dismantled a championship team, chased stars who never came, and watched a workplace scandal expose cracks in the empire he built. Part 2 of a 3-part series from 'The Build' follows the hangover, the reckoning, and the billion-dollar exit that turned the most hands-on owner in sports into a minority stakeholder in his own legacy.
From humble hustler to billionaire maverick, Mark Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks and transformed them from laughingstock to contender, only to suffer one of the most painful Finals losses in NBA history. Part 1 of a 3-part series from 'The Build' traces Cuban's rise, his relentless bet on Dallas, and the heartbreak that set the stage for an unforgettable championship run.
Born from betrayal in Cleveland, forged through a murder charge in Atlanta, and 'carried' by a backup quarterback nobody believed in — the greatest defense in NFL history emerged. This is the story of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. The Build, Season 1 Episode 1, hosted by Josh Zenilman and Ryan Lugash.