Mavericks’ coach bashes Ball & ESPN after Walton critique
DALLAS — Rick Carlisle slammed ESPN — and was backed by a less passionate Jeff Hornacek — for giving a platform to “blowhard loudmouth” LaVar Ball. The Dallas coach was upset about the latest ESPN interview with Ball, who claimed Lakers coach Luke Walton has lost the team. It led to a response from Walton, a round of speculation about his job status, and a weak endorsement from Lonzo Ball for his coach.
Nobody bit back harder than Carlisle. And he blamed the messenger.
“As president of the coach’s association I view the recent ESPN article as a disgrace quite honestly,” Carlisle said about 90 minutes before his team tipped off against the Knicks. “Luke Walton is a terrific young coach who’s bringing along a young team. And it’s a difficult task and if you don’t believe it just ask me. We’re going through that now. We went through it last year. ESPN is an NBA partner and they’ve been a great one. But part of that partnership is that the coaches do a lot of things to help them with access, interviews, all those kinds of things. And in exchange for
that they should back up the coaches. Printing an article where the father of an NBA player has an opinion that is printed as anything like legitimate erodes trust. It erodes the trust that we built with ESPN. Our coaches are upset because Luke Walton does not deserve that. Two years ago he took a veteran team and led them to 24 wins in a row (when he took over as interim coach of the Warriors), which is an amazing accomplishment. Off of that he earned the Laker job. To have to deal with these kinds of ignorant distractions is deplorable.”
An ESPN reporter at the press conference then asked if Carlisle was suggesting ESPN write articles based on whether they would appease coaches. It was a tense back-and-forth.
“You have my quote,” Carlisle responded. “They should look at their sources and do a better job of determining whether they have any merit or any validity or are they just blowhard loudmouths. That’s what I’m saying. You got that?”
Hornacek claimed he wasn’t aware of the ESPN article, but said that, as a rule, he doesn’t think outsiders should be quoted on team dynamics.
“Nobody is in the locker room, nobody is with these guys every day. So when they have comments on teams, chemistry, that kind of stuff, they don’t really know what’s going on in the overall picture,” Hornacek said.
LaVar Ball has become a media sensation largely because of his bombastic, outrageous comments. Still, as the father of the No. 2 overall pick, his comments on the coach carried importance to ESPN.
In the article, Ball said of Walton, “You can see they’re not playing for Luke no more. Luke doesn’t have control of the team no more. They don’t want to play for him. … People don’t know why they’re in the game. He’s too young. He’s too young. He ain’t connecting with them anymore. You can look at every player, he’s not connecting with not one player.”
JACK BACK
Two days before the Knicks guaranteed Jarrett Jack’s contract, the point guard who had been through so much rehab to get to this point, and who admitted to the Daily News that he contemplated retirement, said he was so consumed with the season that he was unaware the deadline was approaching.
“My individual well-being wasn’t even at the top of my desk,” he said. “It’ll be cool, it’s great, I’ve had a tremendous time playing and competing with these dudes coming back from my injury.”
To not guarantee Jack’s contract, the Knicks needed to waive him by Sunday. They didn’t. More than anything, that’s a testament to the 34-year-old’s work recovering from a torn ACL and partially torn meniscus that ended his previous two seasons. Privately, the Knicks were concerned that Jack wasn’t going to hold up physically.
But after beating out Ramon Sessions for a spot in the lineup, Jack has started 36 consecutive games and leads the Knicks in assists. “Jarrett has been a leader for the Knicks on and off the court,” GM Scott Perry said in a statement. “He’s a valuable member of this team and we look forward to him continuing his successful play for the remainder of the season.”
His deal now gives the Knicks the maximum 15 guaranteed contracts. As a source told the Daily News, some in the organization are keen on calling up their G League point guard Trey Burke to see if he can help boost a failing offense. However, the Knicks would have to create a roster spot to facilitate such a move — whether by waiving or trading a player.
They’re obviously keeping Jack so long as he’s healthy. They currently have two centers (Joakim Noah and Willy Hernangomez) and a point guard (Sessions) who are out of the rotation.
HARPER HONORED
The Mavericks retired the jersey of former point guard Derek Harper, who also played three memorable seasons with the Knicks. “Derek was a great defender who was one of the best point guards in Mavericks history,” Carlisle said. “He had a great run with New York, that’s one reason we’re doing it tonight.”