Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Miami Heat superstar LeBron James described Mark Cuban as a “very sly guy” Saturday after it emerged the Dallas Mavericks owner tried to recruit him through a sequence of text messages, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

Cuban sent James and the player’s business manager Maverick Carter texts stating the two-time NBA MVP would have a better chance of winning a championship in Dallas than on South Beach.

“What I told him, and I told Maverick, was that no team has blown up a team and all of the core and then added a couple free agents and won a championship,” Cuban said.

“It’s always taken someone coming to a good team to make it better and put them over the top.”

James laughed Saturday after being told Cuban had made their text exchange public, but admitted he did consider joining the Mavericks.

“This is definitely one of the teams I looked at, being a veteran ballclub. They got a lot of winners on their team,” James said of Dallas. “But you guys know where I ended up.

“[Mark’s] a very sly guy. He wants to win. He does what’s best for his team, and he’s very passionate about it.”

Cuban and James’ comments came before the Heat’s 106-95 loss to the Mavericks in Dallas Saturday, their fourth defeat in five games.

Caron Butler led the Mavs with 23 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 22 with six rebounds and four assists, and Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 17 boards.

James scored 23 for the Heat with eight rebounds,Dwyane Wade had 22 points and nine rebounds, andChris Bosh had 22 points and eight rebounds.

The Mavericks improved to 12-4 with the win, while the Heat slumped to 9-8 and 2-5 on the road.

-Newscore