FORT WORTH, Texas — Rick Carlisle realized he had to leave the Dallas Mavericks, and as the team has succeeded in his absence the club of his detractors grows by the day.
A lot of Dallas Mavericks fans regarded Carlisle the way one might greet a plate of stale bread and peas for a seventh consecutive dinner.
The players were ready to hear another voice, too.
On his way out the door last summer, he did something few exiting coaches ever do when he publicly announced a suggestion to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
"It's hard to put an exact finger on it. It's just a feeling that I had that it would be mutually beneficial. My hope is that Jason Kidd will be the next coach of the Mavs because he and Luka [Doncic] have so many things in common as players," Carlisle told ESPN's Tim MacMahon last summer, shortly after Carlisle resigned as the head coach.
Carlisle resigned on June 17, 2021.
"I just think that it would be a great situation for Luka, and I think it would be an amazing situation for Jason," Carlisle said. "I'm the only person on the planet that's coached both of those guys and that knows about all of their special qualities as basketball players.
"To me, that just would be a great marriage, but that's just an opinion."
On June 24, the Mavericks completed a contract for Jason Kidd to be their next head coach.
Carlisle was right.
Even though he had the endorsement of LeBron James, hiring Kidd was not exactly like hiring Phil Jackson. Kidd's head coaching runs with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks in five combined seasons were mostly M-E-H.
In his 13 seasons as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Carlisle had his share of bonks. Recommending Kidd as his replacement was a winner.
Whether Mavs owner Mark Cuban actually followed Carlisle's specific advice, or came up with the idea on his own, doesn't much matter.
Hiring Kidd worked. He should have been a finalist for the NBA's Coach of the Year, but the category is stacked with candidates.
On Monday night, the Mavericks easily defeated the Utah Jazz, 102-77, in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Mavs lead the series 3-2 and can win their first series since 2011 on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
The last time the Mavs won a playoff series, Carlisle was the head coach and Kidd was his starting point guard. That was the 2011 NBA Finals.
The team Kidd inherited last summer is not the team Carlisle coached to another first-round playoff exit in the spring.
The team Kidd is currently coaching is not the the same team he had as late as January.
Doncic is a year older, the team gave up on Kristaps Porzinigs. The additions of Reggie Bullock, and most recently Spencer Dinwiddie, have worked.
The club won more than 50 games for the first time since 2015. They had home court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since that championship season of 2011.
The team still has height issues, but its defense is a major problem for opponents.
The Mavs would have been good again under Carlisle, but not as good as they have played under Kidd.
Doncic, and the rest of the team, needed to listen to someone other than Rick Carlisle.
Kidd deserves credit for the job he's done.
And Carlisle deserves credit for recommending Kidd.
