Deron Williams going to Dallas was much closer than we think. Apparently, Mark Cuban is the reason why Deron isn’t a Maverick. Cuban decided to put his reality TV show ahead of his NBA franchise. He went to a taping of “Shark Tank” rather than meet with Deron Williams, which rubbed D-Will the wrong way.

“Of course (Cuban’s absence had an effect),” Williams said. “My top four when I was coming out of high school was Illinois, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Maryland. “Maryland told me they wanted me to come on a visit but Gary Williams wouldn’t be there. So I told them, ‘It’s okay. I’d rather not go.’ So that was that. It’s similar.”

“I think (Cuban) would have been able to answer a lot of the questions me and my agent have for him that really didn’t get answered that day pertaining to the future,” Williams said. “And I think if he was there he would have been able to answer those questions a little bit better.

[H/T: NY daily news and GettyImages]