Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is denying a 2011 allegation of sexual assault after a weekly alternative newspaper in Oregon published details of a case that prosecutors declined to pursue, saying they didn't believe there was evidence to support the claim.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Wednesday the league was reviewing the allegations after the Willamette Week in Portland, Oregon, reported a woman's claim that Cuban put his hands down her pants and touched her inappropriately while they were taking a photo at a Portland nightclub.
The report Tuesday came about a week and half after a Sports Illustrated account that portrayed a hostile work environment for women in the front office of the Mavericks. Although Cuban wasn't implicated, the SI report raised questions about what he knew and when.
Cuban flatly denied the woman's allegations and provided a prosecutors' report detailing the decision not to file charges. In an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Cuban wrote, "It didn't happen."
Prosecutors wrote in a report explaining why they weren't pursuing the case that "there is no evidence to corroborate the complainant's statement and there is evidence contradicting the claim." The report also said the woman didn't want to proceed with the allegation.
The SI report included claims of inappropriate sexual conduct by former CEO Terdema Ussery and raised questions about what Cuban knew and when.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
