Mavericks, head coach Rick Carlisle finalize five-year extension
The Dallas Mavericks and head coach Rick Carlisle have finalized a five-year extension, the team announced. ESPN’s Marc Stein reports the contract is worth $35 million.
The deal will keep Carlisle with the Mavericks through the 2021–22 season and make him the highest paid NBA coach who does not also hold an executive role.
Carlisle has coached the Dallas team since ’08. This season marks the end of his four year contract with the Mavericks. However, Stein reports that the Mavericks held a team option for the 2016–17 season, meaning the Carlisle’s new contract will become effective in 2017–18.
Carlisle is coming off a 50–32 season which saw Dallas exit in the first round of the playoffs. He has led the Mavericks to the playoffs six times over the course of his time with team, including an NBA title in ’11.
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He is just one of five active coaches who has won a championship. Only two coaches in the NBA have been tenured longer than Carlisle: San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra.
The Mavericks produced this video spoofing Carlisle as actor Jim Carrey, which may have or may not have been to celebrate the occasion.
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