Adi Joseph

USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is known for bold statements, and he made a few Wednesday at a conference in Nashville on the topic of banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

"I know I'm prejudiced, and I know I'm bigoted in a lot of different ways," Cuban said in an interview shown at the annual GrowCo convention hosted by Inc. magazine, according to The Tennessean.

"If I see a black kid in a hoodie on my side of the street, I'll move to the other side of the street. If I see a white guy with a shaved head and tattoos (on the side he now is on), I'll move back to the other side of the street. None of us have pure thoughts; we all live in glass houses."

Cuban's point is that we all have preconceived notions of various things. He is not advocating for racism but rather suggesting that we all have flaws. Still, the comments come at a difficult time for the NBA, in the wake of Sterling being recorded making racist comments to friend V. Stiviano by phone. Sterling was banned for life for those comments.

When asked about voting on Sterling's ouster, which he will have to do June 3, Cuban said he knows how he will vote but isn't ready to comment on it. He then was asked about keeping bigotry out of the NBA.

"You don't; there's no law against stupid," Cuban said. "I'm the one guy who says don't force the stupid people to be quiet. I want to know who the morons are."

Cuban did apologize Thursday via Twitter for his "black kid" analogy, which was very similar to the scenario behind the death of Travyon Martin.

Cuban, who bought the Mavericks in 2000 and frequently has been fined by the league for public criticism of officials, previously called a vote to force Sterling out of the league a "slippery slope." Wednesday, he added that he hates to be a hypocrite but may have to be in voting for or against Sterling.

The interview, conducted by Inc. editor Eric Schurenberg, opened with Cuban proclaiming he would go "full Mark Cuban."

"I just want to warn everybody, if anybody is upset by cursing ... I apologize in advance," he said.

Thanks to The Tennessean, a Gannett property, for the quotes from their more extensive transcript.