(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY ANDREW CARTER

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is back! No, he’s not celebrating another NBA Championship. After his Mavs lost Wednesday night Cuban is taking heat for complaining about referees... again. The Washington Post has his statement.

“All I’m saying is some of these guys are bad. Let me rephrase that. Some of these guys are having really bad nights, and it’s having an impact.”

The NBA is playing a shortened season after the summer’s lockout. And Yahoo! Sports’ Kelly Dwyer writes -- that might be partly to blame for the ‘questionable’ refereeing.

“For one, scores of veteran referees retired before the 2011-12 season even started, creating an influx of younger referees. ... Secondly, the sheer amount of games that the NBA has greedily mashed together is forcing the referees to officiate even more games than the players are playing.”

And NBC Sports says -- for that -- Mark Cuban has no one to blame but himself.

“Here’s the thing — this is on Cuban and the owners. They locked everyone out and then pushed for a condensed 66-game schedule so they could make their money back.”

Cuban has been fined more than $1 million since he bought the Mavs -- largely for negative comments towards referees.

In an ESPN poll -- 79% of fans believe Cuban will once again be fined by the league.

The referees working the game Wednesday were veteran referees, but analysts on ESPN say- Cuban may have a point.

“The standard that I am accustomed to seeing these same officials perform year after year after year, they seem a bit rusty this year. Can we agree on that? I’ll agree on that. Alright fine, then that’s good.”

The high stress of a condensed season may be taking its toll on coaches too.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was ejected from Wednesday’s game after kicking the basketball into the stands. Carlisle said he was aiming for the referees, but added he is not a good kicker.