Friday might not have been the beginning of the end for Josh Howard as a Maverick. It may have come a week before or nearly a year earlier.

But when the Mavericks forward used a local radio show to detail his off-season marijuana use for the second time in a week and third time in a year, he certainly made his future cloudier.

The timing of his latest admission is what shocked the Mavericks and prompted owner Mark Cuban to say before Game 3 against New Orleans that the Mavericks will address Howard's admitted illegal substance use.

"We'll deal with Josh," Cuban said. "We won't make it public. But we'll deal with it. We'll do what we need to do and deal with it internally, and that's it. End of story."

Unfortunately, it won't be the end of the story. Howard first disclosed his occasional marijuana use last summer. He said again last weekend in The Dallas Morning News that he continues his off-season weed use. Friday's interview on ESPN-FM (103.3), which was arranged by Howard and his representatives, not the Mavericks, will ensure that the story remains a topic for fans, media and the NBA.

The league's drug-testing policy allows for four tests per season. However, if the league has "probable cause," it is allowed to test a player as often as it wants, including during the off-season, presuming the players' association agrees to the probable cause.

Howard would not comment Friday evening about his latest interview. But at least one of his teammates was not surprised by the comments. However, everybody was stunned by the timing.

"Josh is a free spirit," Jerry Stackhouse said. "Obviously you look at how passionate he is about things from the standpoint that he turned down the Olympic trials to go and be with the kids in North Carolina. When you start to look at what kind of person he is and where his heart is, hopefully, you can let some of this stuff slide by. But it's not the ideal situation. It's not what we want to be talking about coming into Game 3 down 0-2."

Avery Johnson did not sound like a coach who was enamored with Howard's decision-making off the court.

"It's what I call poor timing and poor judgment," said Johnson, who noted that he hadn't heard the actual interview.