Mavs Carlisle's No. 1 Takeaway From 'The Last Dance'
DALLAS – ESPN’s wildly popular “The Last Dance" took the world by storm, becoming the most-watched series in ESPN’s history and surpassing Netflix’s “Tiger King” as the most popular documentary of 2020. The 10-part story exhibits the untold story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty.
Dallas Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is one of the many who enjoyed the series during the NBA hiatus. Carlisle and Jordan entered the NBA in the same year, giving Carlisle a unique perspective of the era. His biggest takeaway from the show could also be used as guidance for Mavs star Luka Doncic.
"I think the thing that was interesting about the series as a whole was that, to me, it’s all about the obsession to win championships,” Carlisle said per David Aldridge of The Athletic. “During that era, the dominant teams and the dominant players of that era… These guys knew that their ultimate legacy was going to be about the number of rings. And that’s something that I think is such a great message to today’s players.”
Carlisle, who made a few cameos in the series, continued about the differences in eras.
“Back in those days, you didn’t have social media, you didn’t have a lot of the distractions… The shoe deals - Some of the big players had them. Now, there’s just so much more money and so much else going on. You can find other things to do than obsess about winning a championship ring, or winning two in a row, or three in a row, or six of eight.”
Carlisle and the Boston Celtics won the NBA title in 1984 and then he coached the Mavs to their 2011 NBA Championship. His 791 NBA coaching wins ranks 16th all time.
Dallas this year is on the verge of the playoffs, behind the prowess of second-year phenom Luka Doncic. Doncic’s legacy awaits him and he'd be smart to take a page out of Jordan's book in terms of "obsessing'' in just the right way ... under the guidance of a coach in Carlisle's who has been there.
