Mark Cuban Loaned Mavericks Plane to J.J. Barea for Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief

Authored by bleacherreport.com and submitted by coffeebeerwhiskey

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban loaned the team plane to Mavs guard J.J. Barea so he could bring supplies to his native Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN passed along the news and noted Barea is scheduled to return Tuesday night with his mother and grandmother.

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican national team standout started a YouCaring crowdfunding effort after Hurricane Maria, which has already raised over $140,000 from 850 donors.

On Monday, Barea confirmed he finally reached his parents Sunday to confirm they were safe after an extended wait following the storm, per Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

"They're OK," he said. "But it's still rough there."

Chandrika Narayan of CNN reported Maria left "apocalyptic" devastation in its wake, including "flooding, crippled communications, decimated buildings" and ongoing threats, led by the potential collapse of the Guajataca Dam.

Nicole Friedman of the Wall Street Journal noted the hurricane caused "estimated $40 billion to $85 billion in insured losses," most of which occurred in Puerto Rico.

Barea, who was born in the municipality of Mayaguez, has helped lead the country to several medals during international competition, highlighted by a gold medal in the 2011 Pan American Games.

fuzzyqueen on September 27th, 2017 at 03:26 UTC »

Cuban is a stand up guy. When the Mavs won, the city if Dallas didn't have the budget for the championship parade and celebration. Cuban paid for everything - police security, costs to close streets, etc. Told the city to do what they needed and send him the bill, which he gladly paid.

gdan95 on September 27th, 2017 at 02:02 UTC »

While that is great of him, the headline really ought to read "Cuban Helps Puerto Rican"

EDIT: Whoa, this upvotealanche was completely unexpected

DrunkensAndDragons on September 26th, 2017 at 22:36 UTC »

But did he loan his pilot?