Dirk Nowitzki must be feeling brave. The star forward is now on record as saying that owner Mark Cuban’s rants and antics against referrees is distracting to him and most of his team mates.

In a stories posted Friday night on the Web sites of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News, Nowitzki was quoted as saying, “We can’t lose our temper all the time on the court or off the court, and I think he’s got to learn that, too. He’s got to improve in that area and not yell at the officials the whole game.”

Dirk says he doesn’t blame the refs for being pissed at Cuban or the team.

“The game starts and he’s already yelling at [the officials],” Nowitzki was quoted as saying. “He needs to learn how to control himself a little better. If somebody’s in your ear constantly. … I’d be [ticked] off if I were an official.”

Can the Mav players persuade Cuban to watch from an executive suite?

The newspapers also reported that Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Steve Nash had asked Cuban in the past about watching games from a suite, rather than from his usual seat near the Mavericks’ bench.