Mark Cuban: ‘When the scientists say it’s safe for my employees to go back to work, that’s when I’ll feel confident’

Billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said on Sunday that reopening the economy and other institutions would be a gradual process and that he would not resume running his own businesses as usual without assurance from scientific experts.

“When the scientists say it’s safe for my employees to go back to work, that’s when I’ll feel confident enough to let them go back to work,” Cuban told Fox’s Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

{mosads}Referring to optimistic projections by President Trump implying a full return to the status quo from before the coronavirus pandemic within the next month, Cuban said “I wish he was right but he’s not. I think it’s going to be slower, I think there’s going to be so many ways we have to adapt to this new abnormal.”

“People aren’t going to just venture outside they’re not going to go to large gatherings, they’re not going to feel confident right off the bat,” Cuban added. “There’s going to be a lot of trepidation and that concern is going to lead to people holding back in spending money … companies aren’t going to just immediately bring everybody back.”

Asked by Wallace if he believed the suspended NBA season was likely to be played eventually, Cuban said “I don’t want to make any predictions but I’m hopeful that we will, but I don’t think we’ll play in front of fans … I think initially we will play just for the TV cameras with essential personnel and players.”

Cuban called this idea “a great thing,” saying that Americans needed “things to cheer for” and “a communal experience” and that this would allow the NBA to strike a balance between providing that and protecting fans and players.

As for “when do we get back to that sense of normalcy when we can all crowd back into a stadium or arena,” Cuban said this would likely follow the development of treatment and large-scale testing for the virus.

“When we have that confidence people will go back,” he said.