Cuban was fined $500,000 earlier this month for his verbal attack on Ed T. Rush in which he said Rush "might have been a great ref, but I wouldn't hire him to manage a Dairy Queen."

His referees are "better than ever," Rush said in an interview with DallasBasketball.com while in Dallas on Saturday for the Mavericks' game with the Utah Jazz.

NBA officials "graded out at about 92 percent in 1966, and now we're at about 94 percent. We're doing a good job. ... They're all good guys, good people. ... I've got my three best (Bob Delaney, Derrick Stafford and Leroy Richardson) out there," Rush said.

"They're very focused. They're doing a great job tonight. ... Our guys are not affected by the negative. You can't allow it to bother you. ... We're going to go back to the hotel and watch and break down tape, not like the other guys (people at the Arena), who are going to go out and party."

Cuban said he became angered recently when he thought Spurs center Tim Duncan traveled on several occasions.

"It happened multiple times right in front of me and they didn't do a thing," said Cuban, who has been especially critical of Rush, in his capacity as league director of officials.

Cuban contends that lax officiating is leaving his star players vulnerable to serious injuries.

"The fines are the least of what is relevant of what's going on here," Cuban said. "Our players are at risk because of all the fouls."

Dairy Queen officials invited Cuban to spend a day managing a Dairy Queen, and he happily complied. Thousands of people drove to a Dairy Queen in suburban Coppell last week to let Cuban serve them a Blizzard or other dessert.

Rush said he didn't watch the television coverage of Cuban at the Dairy Queen.

"Mark is just a fan. It goes with the territory."