For those who didn’t watch the “Shark Tank” episode when it aired, the jab that led outgoing shark Mark Cuban to sit out the bidding for Ride FRSH was quite personal. It involved the cache of air fresheners the Brown brothers selected to show off to the “Shark Tank” panel during their pitch. One that ended up in the hands of Cuban was branded with the logo of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
Cuban is, of course, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise. That very year, Golden State bounced Cuban’s Luka Doncic-led Mavericks from the NBA Conference Finals. In a move that perhaps unnecessarily salted the wounds for Cuban, one of the brothers even took a long sniff of a Golden State freshener before declaring, “Smells like winning,” with Cuban advising the Browns they should’ve read the room better before bowing out of the bidding. Donavan and Trey Brown would later admit the jab was intentional and conceived as a promotional stunt.
As several major news outlets covered Cuban’s reaction, it proved a savvy move to boot, with the ensuing coverage helping the Browns get their company’s name out to folks who might’ve missed their primetime debut. Luckily, Barbara Corcoran wasn’t offended by the jab and struck what could be a potentially lucrative deal with the brothers.
