Mavs President: Rick Carlisle is Our Jerry Sloan

“Rick (Carlisle) is our Jerry Sloan,” Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson proclaimed after the team’s first-round playoff exit. “I think he’s one of the top coaches in the league, if not the top coach. We’re blessed and lucky to have him. He can be in Dallas as long as he wants to be.”

Carlisle certainly has a ways to go in order to catch Sloan, who coached one team longer than anyone else in league history while leading Utah for 22 1/2 straight seasons.

“I love it here. This has been a great opportunity,” Carlisle said while reflecting on his time in Dallas. “Because of Mark Cuban and Donnie and Dirk (Nowitzki) and (Jason) Kidd and (Tyson) Chandler, I’m a championship coach. That doesn’t happen at just anywhere you go. I appreciate (Nelson’s) sentiment. The feeling is mutual, and so we’ll go from here.”

via NBA.com/Mavs