'Dancing' puts a little spring in Mark Cuban's step
08.10.2007 06:00
Sport and Travel
- Source: USA Today
He's a self-made billionaire, movie mogul and owner of pro basketball's high-flying Dallas Mavericks.
So what's Mark Cuban doing hoofing it on ABC's Dancing With the Stars? "I'm having a blast," says Cuban, who'll dance the jive tonight (8 ET/PT) with professional partner Kym Johnson. "I'm doing something completely unnatural to me. I'm a fish out of water. And I'm loving every minute of it." Cuban, 49, agreed to compete against entertainers and athletes because his 4-year-old daughter, Alexis, loves the show. Cuban also loves to compete. "Ballroom dancing is a sport. It's a challenge. Doing it live is a super-challenge," he says. Ever the showman, Cuban also hopes viewers get to see a more personal side to a sometimes brash media persona. Cuban stayed ahead of models Josie Maran and Albert Reed the first two weeks of Season 5. Ten couples are left now. What's even more impressive to observers: Cuban had his left hip replaced less than two months before he began grueling practice sessions to master a new dance each week. "Mark is the hardest worker I have ever come across," Johnson says. "He is so determined and never gives up." Cuban is among millions of Americans who have osteoarthritis, a painful degenerative bone disease. As his hip became progressively worse, it crimped his mobility and limited what he could do. Dancing producers — who enticed British former model Heather Mills, an amputee, to compete last season — sought Cuban about three weeks before he had surgery in June. "I told them I was about to get my hip replaced. They thought it would be a great story line," he says. "My doctors put together a rehab program and said there was no reason I couldn't do it. So I decided to go for it." Though his left leg still lacks the strength and muscle tone of his right and he still can't run or jog, Cuban says, he's in less pain and more mobile than he has been in years. Dancing has accelerated his rehabilitation and stamina. A bonus: He has dropped 25 pounds, reaching his lowest weight since college. "The hip has felt great," Cuban says. "The most difficult part of post-op and recovery has more to do with my back. For years, my body tried to compensate and was kind of crooked. Dancing has helped rehabilitation by focusing on balance and improving my core strength. I feel like I'm 21." Cuban has some dancing background; he taught disco lessons for $25 a pop to Indiana University sorority girls in the late 1970s. Don't expect him to break out a white Saturday Night Fever suit on DWTS — the show's costumers have him covered in the wardrobe department. "It's hysterical what they make me wear," Cuban says. Last week, "I felt like they had found Ricky Ricardo's garage sale." Cuban's early performances have impressed choreographer Jeff Allen, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing. "Mark's working his butt off," Allen says. "He's going to gain some strength in the legs from the work he's doing. As a result, he's going to become faster and more fluid on the dance floor." Still, Cuban has no illusions of winning this season's competition. After Week 1, he was among the lowest-rated dancers (a score that combines votes from viewers and a three-judge panel). Aside from his limited dancing prowess, Cuban realizes he lacks the celebrity wattage and wide fan base to lure viewer votes. "I'm up against all the pretty boys, athletes and entertainers. But I know I'm getting better. "The fans got behind us last week. That's motivating."
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