Maimi ? The NBA Finals bring together a rare twosome – a player who should be a role model for all athletes and a fan who could be a role model for all fans.

OK, the fan is also an owner, the Dallas Mavericks’ Mark Cuban. I can only figure envy for getting Cuban tagged as “controversial” or “infamous” by some fans and media.

From what I’ve seen, sports fans should think of Cuban the way cubists think of Picasso. Use Cuban as a goal and even if you fall short, you’ve probably done well for yourself.

Most of us sports geeks realize before they hand out diplomas that the only way we’ll make a Sports Illustrated cover is in a crowd shot.

On a professional sports scale, ownership is the next best thing.

Cuban symbolizes the peak for the average sports fan. What could be better than making yourself ridiculously rich, owning a basketball team of which you’re a fan and helping guide it to greater success than under previous management?

Moreover, when Cuban goes to games, he sits near the court and acts like a rabid fan who knows also it’s just a game.

He gets fined because he speaks the mind of a reasonably smart fan. His feet stay on the bottom line for the Mavericks or for the NBA, but the mind guiding those feet is that of a fan.

Cuban’s already the stated business role model for the role model player, Heat center Shaquille O’Neal.

When it comes to the big It – the media visibility, the endorsements, public behavior, having perspective, being able to poke fun at yourself – few have understood It and worked It like Shaq.

Put Shaq’s mind in Cuban’s body 20 years ago and Mark Cuban would still be a terribly affluent man today.

Plus, while basketball’s Man of Steel possesses a kid’s heart in many ways, he’s an old soul. LeBron James called him “the father of our league,” the one all players could go to for advice or help.

Whereas most NFL running backs probably think Lenny Moore was a foul-mouthed comedian or a brand of stew, and skystepping guards wonder if Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor played the game, O’Neal knows his hoop lineage.

His appreciation for past NBAers, particularly the big men, comes from knowing just how much their efforts made his current lifestyle possible.

Shaq will retire in a few years. Someday, Cuban probably will sell the Mavericks. Hopefully, they’ll have left some of themselves behind in the players, movers and shakers across sports.

¢ NBA Draft notes: Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison says not to worry about his diabetes and mentions players who succeeded with the disease, like Chris Dudley in basketball, Bobby Clarke in hockey and Ron Santo in baseball. Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff was so impressed with Morrison’s workout that he said Morrison might not get to them at No. 3. : Former Chicago Bulls guard Jason Williams, trying to come back from his 2003 motorcycle accident, has worked out for or is expected to see the Raptors, Grizzlies and Nets.