Mavs EXCLUSIVE: ‘Luka Doncic Will Win MVP!' - Coach Rick Carlisle
DALLAS — Rick Carlisle is in Dallas to support Indiana Pacers star and DFW area native Myles Turner, who hosted his annual free basketball camp for kids on Tuesday. Carlisle is currently Turner's head coach with the Pacers but is of course also an NBA Finals-winning coach of the Dallas Mavs. .... and DallasBasketball.com conducted a wide-ranging interview that includes his evaluation of former protege Luka Doncic.
"I think Luka's going to be the MVP this year," Carlisle told us, adding "I think he and Kyrie (Irving) are going to play great."
Carlisle attended Turner's camp last summer and was eager to show support again, given how hands-on Turner is with the camp experience despite there being two age groups each lasting for four hours for two full days.
"The thing I think is really special about this is that Myles Turner is completely involved with everything," Carlisle told DallasBasketball.com. "He's on the court running stations. He's playing with kids in competitive games."
One element of Turner's camp that Carlisle appreciates is that he speaks with campers about life skills as opposed to just having the focus be about basketball.
"It's not just a basketball camp, it's a life skills mentoring camp as well," Carlisle said. "He talks a lot about who you are as a person — integrity, confidence, and things that are really important to how you live your life."
As a head coach, Carlisle makes it a point to show support for the players on his team during the offseason, with attending their respective basketball camps being among his ways of doing so. Carlisle was recently in South Carolina to do the same with Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith at Porter Gaud School, the high school he played for growing up.
"Last week I was in South Carolina for Aaron Nesmith's camp Porter Gaud School, which is where he went," Carlisle said. "I was at Myles' Camp last year and wanted to be here again to support him."
"When you got a guy like Myles, who's an established NBA player, he's a one of the top centers in the league, and you see how much he's putting into this and how much he's giving of himself, you wanna support it," Carlisle explained. "I'm proud to be here."
After having a full season to coach Turner, Carlisle is appreciative of the leadership he provides in the community and for the Pacers, beyond his impact as an elite shot-blocker and stretch-five.
"I think he's just a special player and a very special individual," Carlisle said of Turner. "I was at this camp last year and saw how he immerses himself in every aspect of this camp of pours everything he has into it. ... This is a very special experience for the kids that come here. He has the same kind of impact on our city and our team."
Later in August, Carlisle will also be traveling to Springfield, Massachusetts to support superstar Dirk Nowitzki as he's enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Rick is obviously thrilled to be celebrating a player that he spent 11 years coaching and is very grateful for the opportunity to have done so.
"I'm looking forward to Hall of Fame weekend," Carlisle said. "I'm going be there for the entire weekend and I'll be at all the events. It's a great celebration of Dirk's career as of one of the all time great players."
"Dirk's one of the top players of all time," Carlisle explained. "That's undisputed. And he makes his residence in Dallas and that really says a lot about his relationship with the city, the fans, Mark Cuban and everybody that that's ever come across Mavericks basketball.
"He's just a super special guy," Carlisle explained further. "I was very privileged to be with him for 11 years and wouldn't trade him for anything."
When discussing the Mavs, Carlisle praised the offseason moves the team made, along with the prospects they added using the NBA Draft, including Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper.
"I think the Mavericks made a lot of great moves this offseason. They had a great draft," Carlisle said.
Carlisle also has a lot of confidence in how Doncic and Kyrie Irving will fit alongside each other in what he expects to be an MVP season for the Slovenian superstar.
As Doncic entered the offseason additionally motivated by the Mavs finishing with a 38-44 record and failing to qualify for the play-in tournament, he's pushed himself in his conditioning. Carlisle sees Doncic as having been on the cusp of being the world's best player, but once again predicted an MVP season.
"I'm sure he's doing all the right things for him," Carlisle said of Doncic. "He's been on the cusp of being the best player in the world. He's right there, and I think he's going to be the MVP this year."
Carlisle's Pacers were quite active this offseason, too, having acquired Bruce Brown in free agency and using the NBA Draft to select Jarace Walker among other moves.
"I loved our offseason,” Carlisle said, shifting focus from his old team back to his new team to wrap up his DallasBasketball.com interview. “Our draft was terrific. We had a great summer signing of Bruce Brown, he is going to really help us and we're a young team that's gaining experience. We're fun to watch."
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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