3:50pm: The Mavericks have confirmed Carlisle’s departure in a press release (Twitter link).
3:10pm: Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is stepping down from his post after 13 years in Dallas, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He had two years left on his current deal with the club.
Carlisle’s crowning achievement in Dallas was leading the club to its only NBA title in 2011 with superstar power forward Dirk Nowitzki.
It appeared that, with the recent ascent of young First Team All-NBA guard Luka Doncic, Carlisle would be well-positioned to lead the club to many future deep playoff runs. During the last two seasons, Carlisle and Doncic led the Mavericks back to the playoffs, where they lost two consecutive hard-fought first-round battles against the Clippers.
In head coaching tenures with the Pistons, Pacers, and Mavericks, Carlisle, 61, has accrued a regular season head coaching win/loss record of 836-689. He was voted the 2001/02 Coach of the Year while with Detroit. His teams have made the playoffs in 14 of his 19 seasons as a head coach.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link), Carlisle had been the third-longest-tenured current NBA head coach, behind only five-time champion Gregg Popovich with the Spurs and three-time champion (twice as the head coach, once as an assistant) Erik Spoelstra with the Heat.
For an organization with the level of relative infrastructural stability the Mavericks had demonstrated for over a decade, this has been an unprecedented few days.
Earlier this week, a report by The Athletic detailed major front office conflict surrounding sports gambler-turned-director of quantitative research and development Haralabos Voulgaris. Yesterday, news became public that the team had parted company with GM Donnie Nelson, who had worked in the Dallas front office for 24 seasons and had held the GM position for 16 years. The decision had actually been reached on Sunday, a day before The Athletic’s scathing story was published.
The Mavericks are now the seventh team to lose a head coach following the 2020/21 season. The Wizards, Trail Blazers, Celtics (the team that drafted Carlisle in 1984), Pacers (the team for which Carlisle served as a head coach from 2003-2007), Pelicans, and Magic also have head coaching vacancies. Should Carlisle want to continue coaching, there are several playoff-caliber rosters among these, sporting six 2021 All-Stars, available as of this writing.
Carlisle released a statement addressing his departure to ESPN (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski):
“After a number of in-person conversations with Mark Cuban over the last week, today I informed him that I will not be returning as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. This was solely my decision. My family and I have had an amazing 13-year experience working with great people in a great city. It has been an honor to work along [with] Mark, [Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall], Donnie, [vice president of basketball operations Michael Finley], [assistant GM Keith Grant], Dirk, [former Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd] and every player and assistant coach I’ve had here. Dallas will always be home, but I am excited about the next chapter of my coaching career.”
Cuban has also weighed in on the news.
“I truly love Rick Carlisle,” he said in a statement to ESPN (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN). “He was not only a good coach but also a friend and confidant. Our relationship was so much more than basketball. And I know that won’t ever change.”
As for Dallas’ fresh vacancy, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets that star Doncic is a big fan of assistant coach Jamahl Mosley. “He’s got the things needed for a head coach,” Doncic noted after Mosley subbed in for Carlisle during a 99-86 win over the Knicks this spring.
Mosley has been a Mavericks assistant since 2014. John Hollinger of The Athletic concurred (Twitter link) that Mosley would get significant consideration.
Doncic had still been expected to ink a super-max contract extension once he became eligible later this summer after the news broke of Nelson’s departure, despite a strained relationship with Voulgaris. MacMahon tweets that the relationship between Carlisle and Doncic had also been tense, and that Carlisle may have been coaching for his job during the 2021/22 season.
Cuban informs Marc Stein of the New York Times (via Twitter) that he will look to replace Nelson as the new head of basketball operations before finding a replacement for Carlisle.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I wonder if this was a move that Luka wanted. Carlisle had the option to resign or get fired. Cuban has to keep the New Godfather in town Luka happy
That’s where I’m leaning.
Luka might have had suggestions for Carlisle.
Cuban probably is making sure those suggestions are implemented, to keep Doncic.
The veteran coach likely isn’t interested in acquiescing & resigned
Luka has a big ego and thinks he knows better than anyone else. He is just some young super star with to many people kissing his butt. He will ruin the Mavs if they let him pick who he wants to be the coach.
more like he wants to win asap. better than wasting his prime like lebron did in cleveland and i hate lebron. As long as he wants to stay in Dallas and win, who cares
You can’t let a young player pick his coach. Dallas problem has always been poor defense. They need a defensive coach.
no!!! why does this happen now of all times
At least Haralabob is still around.
Voulgaris has killer instinct
Next one is Luka
Rumors
Luka and Voulgaris can’t get along
Carlise is trash. 5 playoff series wins over 13 years. 4 coming enroute to the championship that was led by kidd, terry, Dwayne casey, and terry stotts. Who all have more playoff series wins than carlise since they left in 2011
This is like saying a chef is bad because he couldn’t make great food with whatever you have left over in the fridge.
Championship teams have championship talent. Aside from the team that won it all, which roster would you say underachieved?
Even the team that won it all was a bad team lmao that was all just Dirk in God mode.
Cuban is a smart guy but it sounds like this Voulgaris guy is running the show. Cuban needs to get rid of him and hire messai
He wants that Boston job!!
Yup …. done deal.
I’ll take him in Boston
Now that would work. Carlise even played at the University of Maine before he transferred to Virginia.
He played for the Celtics too. And was drafted by them. Also was a teammate of Ainge who I am sure he talked with about it. Even though Ainge stepped down.
Knicks can make offers to get both Luka and Zion
6 Firsts and young core avail
Go Knicks
Knicks have better offers than Lakers
The knicks have nothing that would interest the mavs re:Luka. No one does, for that matter.
Knicks are a bigger market than Lakers
This is what Lakers can offer
Laker Luka
Sounds like the same
I wouldn’t say no one. But definately not the knicks! There are some crazy packages that could get Cubanon the phone forLuka. Ala Tatum and Brown and a half decade worth of picks. Or maybe Zion, Ingram, and Half decade worth of unrestricted 1sts.
Liked you better when you were a Knick hater.
New Celtics HC!
I hope not
Which job does Carlisle want? Boston, Portland, or New Orleans? I suspect he can have any if them. Jamal Moseley is a good, young coach. But he is in no way prepared to become a first time head coach in the middle of this sh*t show. If he’s as smart as I think he is, he’ll follow Carlisle right out the door.
Milwaukee may be a potential landing spot for Carlisle, too. Just wait a few days.
In before Chauncey billups is mentioned for the head coaching job
Once Popovich finally retires it won’t be long before Stephen Silas becomes the longest tenured coach in the SW division (down to him and Taylor Jenkins).
LMAO is this seriously what you have to chime in on for this post??)
I thought it was interesting
WHAT IS GOING ON IN DALLAS??
This has been an unprecedented few days. Either Luka is making demands, or Cuban decided to clean house.
Either way, it can’t be good.
The amount of quotes on who Luka does and doesn’t like is pretty crazy. I’d love to know who the source(s) is(are)….
To be fair, Dallas is kind of backed into a corner just a tad. If there was any doubt Luka was a top 5 talent I think he answered it this month.
But now they’re left invested in a #2, max contract guy in KP6 who seems ill equipped for the role and maybe a bad fit for the team. Maybe Cubes wants some new blood in before the drastic roster changes are made.
Trae better
Is it me or does it seem luka and Carlisle don’t mesh?
Rick spoke of former stars dirk and Kidd, but didn’t mention luka. Maybe I’m over analyzing the quote there.
But Mavs have luka they’ll be okay. They need to figure out what works around him, because KP standing around shooting on a max deal is ideal.
But luka needs the ball and is a great creator. Just not a good combo.
This is the best thing that could happen to the Mavericks. Rick Carlisle was ineffective,scared,unsure, cowardly and totally lacking in conviction. I’m not saying he was always like that but that is exactly the person we saw on the sideline during the playoffs. If the Mavs hire another coach that is afraid of taking control of the team, they will get the same result. Luca is a phenomenal basketball player. He is also spoiled with an ego the size of Texas. He is young that’s not the problem. The problem is he has the maturity of a 13 year old. It’s not his fault but it must change. He needs discipline, accountability and someone who who is unafraid and willing to teach him and help him develope emotionally. Ideally just for the sake of developing the greatest player ever, he needs a system like Miami Heats. He needs a coach that won’t allow him to show up out of shape, someone who will bench him when he is whining and hogging the ball. If Luca is going to become a true GOAT, he will have to learn how to be a part of a team. And he will need to learn how to become a leader. That will only come with discipline, consequences and accountability. Give him a leader, a coach with conviction.
I’m not sure your correct in saying Carlisle didn’t have conviction and leadership as a coach.
It’s always seemed that’s what he brings to the table.
It’s up to players to respond to that.
It’s also hard to discipline players by sitting them when youre also fighting for a playoff berth and avoid play-in, which situation Mavs were in most of the year.
Luke is generational talent. But takes too many crazy shots, but he also makes them lol
The type of leadership I’m talking about deals with the problems as soon as they pop up, not in the playoffs. For instance, showing up to start the season fat and out of shape, do not ignore that. When he refusses to pass the ball to the open man, sit him down. That started the first game Dallas played. Watch the replay. J Rich was knocking down every shot he put up in the pre season,shooting 70% and getting lots of press. Game one of regular season, J Rich was open and calling for the ball over and over again. Luca froze him out, acted like he was not even on the floor, same thing game 2. To put a finer point on it, a few games later all the players were excited and giving Luca high fives during the time out. J Rich raised his hand to high five Luca and he deliberately turned his back on him. My question, do you think Luca is the person you want leading your organization. This could get out of control in a hurry. Maybe it already has.
Vlade?
This is the best thing that could happen to the Mavericks. Rick Carlisle was ineffective,scared,unsure, cowardly and totally lacking in conviction. I’m not saying he was always like that but that is exactly the person we saw on the sideline during the playoffs. If the Mavs hire another coach that is afraid of taking control of the team, they will get the same result. Luca is a phenomenal basketball player. He is also spoiled with an ego the size of Texas. He is young that’s not the problem. The problem is he has the maturity of a 13 year old. It’s not his fault but it must change. He needs discipline, accountability and someone who who is unafraid and willing to teach him and help him develope emotionally. Ideally just for the sake of developing the greatest player ever, he needs a system like Miami Heats. He needs a coach that won’t allow him to show up out of shape, someone who will bench him when he is whining and hogging the ball. If Luca is going to become a true GOAT, he will have to learn how to be a part of a team. And he will need to learn how to become a leader. That will only come with discipline, consequences and accountability. Give him a leader, a coach with conviction.
Kidd to the Mavs? Atkinson to Pacers sign Dinwiddie reunites with LaVert?
Kidd and Cuban don’t get along.
After the widely publicized sexual harassment issues in the organization, they would not hire a person with a domestic abuse record. Also, Kidd is not a good coach.
Every damn time with this nonsense – Kidd is bad at coaching, period. Stop giving him chances. Period. He won’t ever be good at coaching, period.
Kidd did fine with Giannis & Middleton. They are stil playing over their heads.
7 openings.. and arguably the most qualified assistant in the NBA is Becky Hammon. Over under 50% chance she gets a job?
Under
Most qualified how?
Most HC hires will be recycles probably.
Like I keep saying, you can’t have one man hold the ball 90% of the time and let your other players be stand-still shooters, shooting at the end of the shot-clock.
This is good for both the MAVS and Carlisle.
The MAVS get to choose someone younger, which is all the rage these days ……. I’m of the belief that the newer generation of players now, they’re a tad bit tougher for the older coaches, to communicate and build rapport with.
Shaq said as much, when the he & the INSIDE crew were discussing what happened to SVG and the PELICANS.
For a coach with Carlisle’s pedigree, now is a good time to go new job hunting with all the head-coaching vacancies.
Why any anyone would choose to play with that kid is beyond me, he’s got velcro for hands, once he catches it that ball ain’t leaving his hands unless he tries to shoot it.
Like with Harden… the best shot may be his own; best play, iso; most points, the 3.
Luka is not getting traded. It’s obvious Carlisle got canned because of tension between the two of them. The Mavs chose Luka!
Why would anyone want to coach Luka obviously he’s the one making the calls and when things go wrong it’s your fault and when things go right he’ll be the first to accept the flowers it’s a lose lose with that guy and yes I’m a suns
Why would anyone want to coach Luka obviously he’s the one making the calls and when things go wrong it’s your fault and when things go right he’ll be the first to accept the flowers it’s a lose lose with that guy and yes I’m a Suns fan and I’m happy we picked Ayton because there aren’t enough shots between him and Book and at least Book passes the ball!! Talk about empty stats just watch Luka.
Why would anyone want to coach Luka obviously he’s the one making the calls and when things go wrong it’s your fault and when things go right he’ll be the first to accept the flowers it’s a lose lose with that guy and yes I’m a Suns fan and I’m happy we picked Ayton because there aren’t enough shots between him and Book and at least Book passes the ball!! Talk about empty stats just watch Luka
That is not obvious at this point.
The news about Rick Carlisle walking may cause me to reconsider his inexplicable coaching decisions in the last two weeks of the season and post season. What if he was not allowed to make decisions down the stretch. What if the higher ups made demands and forced him to do things he didn’t want to do. Well this side of the coin would make me reevaluate what I saw as lack of conviction. All that I said regarding his demeanor would still hold true. He was uncomfortable, he did not believe or trust the game plan and he was miserable. But what if he walked because he refuses to coach for an organization that does not allow him to coach. It would be a terrible thing were we to discover that Luca was the one calling the shots, dictating who was on the floor and when. What explains a complete 180 on what you worked for the entire year. Why would you abandon the defense you worked so hard on in favor of nothing but offensive. That is what got you beat last year. And why in the world would you resort to zone defense that the Mavericks had not even practiced. Lastly why would you leave your star on the floor for all but two minutes of the game. This was perhaps the worst of all because Luca had very little in the 3rd and nothing in the 4h quarter. His tongue was hanging out, gasping for breath and his legs were shot. If this theory is valid then walking away would be the exact thing to prove he is a man of very strong convictions. Wow!
Shocked. I assume Boston is the spot Rick Carlisle ends up in…
Carlisle would be good for KembaW… he tends to be good for small guards getting shots.
Carlisle and Doncic were never going to get along… I was bringing this up years ago but Dallasans did not want to hear about it. Different ideas about how to attack.
Luka is a phenomenon…
Carlisle is a HC, who cares you get rid of him you got a 100 of them knocking on your door… coaches aren’t important… megastars like Luka are everything & more!