After a relatively quiet 2 months, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is back in the news with criticisms of NBA officiating, writes Jodie Valade of the Dallas Morning News.  He denounced the practice of giving stars the benefit of the calls, and he said that referees need to be held accountable for their officiating.  His harshest criticism (again) was for the NBA's Director of Officiating, Ed Rush.

"Ed Rush might have been a great ref, but I wouldn't hire him to manage a Dairy Queen," Cuban said. "His interest is not in the integrity of the game or improving the officiating. The No. 1 priority of Ed Rush is maintaining power. There's no question in my mind that [NBA commissioner] David Stern is not the most powerful man in the game. It's Ed Rush."