Mavs Exclusive: Coach Carlisle on Rumor Of Wanting To Leave Dallas For Bucks

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle responds to DallasBasketball.com regarding a rumor about his future

DALLAS - In reaction to a published rumor suggesting his desire to coach the Milwaukee Bucks, Rick Carlisle is commenting exclusively to DallasBasketball.com.

"I have zero interest in leaving Dallas,'' Carlisle tells us.

This meshes nicely with the view of Dallas Mavericks ownership as well.

"He isn't going anywhere," owner Mark Cuban proclaimed regarding Carlisle’s job security, even in the wake of the Game 7 NBA Playoffs loss at the Clippers, meaning Dallas has yet to win a playoff series since the Mavs captured the NBA title in 2011.

Carlisle was asked after the Game 7 loss - a 126-111 decision in which not even the brilliance of Luka Doncic was enough to top the favored Clippers - if he still believes he is the right man to lead the organization in the ongoing era of Doncic, age 22.

"That's a question you'll have to ask Mark,” Carlisle said. “I obviously do, but I'd text him and see what he has to say about it.”

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Sources tell DallasBasketball.com that it is Cuban’s view that he employs not only a unique talent duo in GM Donnie Nelson and Carlisle, but more, that the three of them - “The Triangle of Trust,” as we’ve called it - co-exist in ways that help the Mavs operate and cooperate in efficient and effective ways.

But that doesn’t change the decade-long facts.

“Losing in the first round,” said Carlisle, “is something we don't like doing … We’ve just got to keep building the team around (Doncic.) This is going to be an important offseason on many levels.”

And Carlisle, with a contract that runs through the 2022-23 season, will continue to be a centerpiece of the build. That's what Cuban wants - and also importantly, that's what Carlisle tells us he wants.