At the 2018 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected Luka Doncic from Slovenia with the third pick in the first round. Doncic came to a foreign country, unfamiliar with life, and soon became good friends with his teammate Dennis Smith Jr., who lived in the same apartment building.
After a series of formalities, the Lone Ranger began to promote handsome Slovenian guys. Doncic and Smith appeared together on Media Day, posing in various poses to photograph reporters. Subsequently, their photos were posted on the front page of the team's official website.
Unexpectedly, however, the two young men did not expect that the friendship they had just forged would soon be in crisis. Because head coach Rikka Lyell and team management were planning a deal, they never believed that Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr. would be able to stay with the team for long.
The Lone Rangers know that Doncic needs the ball and the ball is in his hands to reach his great potential, but they don't believe smith can match doncic well, because they think Smith also needs the ball and the timing of the shooting is not good.
Carlisle has always questioned Smith's abilities, arguing that Smith does not deserve the starting position and has expressed his dissatisfaction with Smith during his rookie season. Carlisle deliberately embarrassed Smith several times, and at a team meeting, Carlisle accused Smith of being jealous of Doncic in front of everyone, and everyone was shocked. The players felt it was very unfair to Smith, who, despite his average performance, struggled to work with Doncic on the pitch.
Good friends were publicly humiliated by the manager, which made Doncic unhappy with Carlisle. Finally, in February 2019, the Lone Ranger made a deal with the Knicks, and Smith was sent to New York in exchange for Porzingis.
This was where Doncic's feud with Carlisle began.
As the season progressed, Doncic began to look down on Carlisle's approach to others.
Former Lone Ranger center Salah Mejerry was once outraged by Carlisle for scoring just two points and two technical fouls in one game. In addition, the Lone Ranger's staff, from members of the coaching staff to non-basketball employees, said they had been intimidated and disrespected by Carlisle, who said carlisle's words and deeds were very rude.
Megeri felt that he was not respected by the manager in that game, and after training the next day, Carlisle had a conversation with Mejeri and apologized to Mejeri for his aggressive words.
The conversation between Carlisle and Mejri took place in the season before Doncic joined the Mavericks, which shows that when Doncic came to Dallas, the atmosphere in the Lone Rangers' dressing room was not good.
During Doncic's rookie season, he experienced a particularly intense team meeting that was like a riot. A few days later, Carlisle apologized to the team and asked assistant coach Jamal Mosley to manage the relationship between the players and the coaching staff. Since then, the players have heard Mosley's voice, sometimes even more than Carlisle's.
Doncic has since forged close ties with Mosley. But in the days that followed, Carlisle began to see Mosley as a threat because he thought Hesley might have attempts to seize power.
As the dressing room leader at the time of the 2011 victory, J.J. Barria played a role as a spokesman between coaches and players in the Lone Ranger, facilitating communication between players and coaches, and he also helped to bring Doncic and Porzingis closer together.
However, Doncic and Porzingis did not establish a good relationship, because Doncic was the core, and Porzingis was more like a green leaf. Porzingis was disappointed, and he offered to trade. Carlisle couldn't do anything with them, because his relationship with them was very ordinary.
Carlisle tries to repair his relationship with Doncic. He praised Doncic in an interview with the media, even comparing Doncic to legends such as Larry Bird and magician Johnson, and protecting Doncic from criticism.
But their relationship has become too distant, and Doncic goes his own way when the game is intense, and he can't listen to the coach's arrangement. At the beginning of the 2020-21 season, Doncic once questioned Carlisle's authority in front of the team: "Who is in charge — you or Bob?" ”
Bob was referring to Haralabos Voulgaris, then director of quantitative research and development for the Mavericks, a well-known sports bettor with great data analysis skills, who was trusted by team owner Mark Cuban and had a lot of power in the team, and many of the team's trading, draft and operational work was decided by him. Carlisle is also very dependent on Bob's data, but always has the final say.
Doncic began to constantly question Carlisle's tactics, substitutions and other arrangements, shouting at Carlisle whenever he was dissatisfied. Carlisle joked privately that he had developed selective hearing, choosing to ignore Doncic's yelling at him during the game. While Doncic often echoed the coach's decisions on the pitch, he never publicly rebuked Carlisle in front of the media.
Despite all the friction, Carlisle gave Doncic enough face and the ball, allowing Doncic to win the rookie of the year and become the only player in the past 50 years after Durant to be named to the team of the year twice before the age of 23.
After losing the G7 in the first round of the playoffs last season, the team questioned Carlisle's job. Carlisle had two more seasons left on his contract, and Carlisle also asked Cuban for a contract extension. But Cuban didn't agree, and Carlisle, the head coach with the most wins in the Lone Rangers' history, was suddenly frustrated.
As for Carlisle's whereabouts, Doncic has not exercised the superstar privilege of influencing personnel decisions, and he has never asked Carlisle to step down.
Carlisle then appeared in Indiana, where he signed the Pacers to a four-year, $29 million contract. Looking back on his 13 years at the Lone Ranger, Carlisle said, "I am so grateful for those 13 years at the Lone Ranger, and I cherish the memory of our victory in 2011 and all that I learned there as a coach. It's an honor to work with players like Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic and see a lot of players growing in the team.
"It was an honor to witness Luca's genius for three years," Carlisle continued. "He's going to continue to do some amazing things. I'm excited to have the opportunity to coach at Indiana and wish the Mavericks all the best." ”