THE MAN BEHIND IT ALL

Tons of stories had already been told about the incredible run of the Dallas Mavericks towards the 2011 NBA championship. From finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki to Jason Kidd to Jason Terry to Tyson Chandler and even J.J. Barea. But it is seldom you hear or read a story about the man behind it all, the architect of the first-ever NBA title of the Mark Cuban-owned franchise, head coach Rick Carlisle. His ascension to the upper echelon of NBA champion coaches is an inspiring story itself. The road to success took a bumpy ride of nine years before finally hitting pay dirt. Before hooking up with the Mavs as head coach in 2008-09 season, Carlisle had tour of duties with the Detroit Pistons (2001-03) and Indiana Pacers (2003-07). He had a career coaching record of 443-295 win-loss slate or a winning clip of .600. The 51 year-old native of Ogdensburg, New York played prep ball at Lisbon Central HS (NY) and later starred at the University of Virginia. Carlisle was drafted in the 3^rd round (70^th pick over-all) by the Boston Celtics in the 1984 draft and was a member of the Celtics champion squad in 1986. He played five years in the pro league and averaged 2.2 ppg and 1.1 apg in 188 total games with the Celtics and the New York Knicks. Carlisle loves every moment of being an NBA champion coach and he call his charges a very special group of men that is great to be around with, according to the Indy Star.

“This is a special team. This is the most special team that I've ever been around, because it's not about what you can't do, it's about what you can do. It's not about what your potential shortcomings are, it's what we could accomplish as a group together. And it was just phenomenal to be around them.”