Rick Carlisle announced Thursday that he is resigning as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
“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,” Carlisle wrote in a statement, per ESPN. “This was solely my decision. My family and I have had an amazing 13-year experience working with great people in a great city.”
After the Mavericks were eliminated in the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers, Carlisle was asked about his standing with the team, but he felt like Mark Cuban was better suited to answer that question. "Let me tell you how I look at coaching. You don’t make a change to make a change. Unless you have someone that you know is much, much, much better, the grass is rarely greener on the other side,” Cuban told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Carlisle’s resignation comes one day after the Mavericks parted ways with president of basketball operations and general manager Donnie Nelson after 24 years. The dismissal of Nelson has reportedly “upset” Mavs star Luka Doncic because, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN, the two were “really, really close.”
Doncic is eligible to sign a super max contract extension with the Mavericks this summer, but one can't help but wonder if the departure of Nelson and Carlisle has Luka reconsidering his future in Dallas.
Check out some reactions to the news down below.
