Jalen Brunson-Rick Carlisle Mavs drama resurfaces ahead Knicks-Pacers series

The Dallas Mavericks may be in the Western Conference, but the organization has some pretty deep connections in the upcoming Eastern Conference semifinals series between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, thanks to former coach Rick Carlisle, now with the Pacers, and former player Jalen Brunson, now the Knicks’ star.

The Knicks and Pacers had quite the rivalry 30 or so years ago, with the teams meeting in the playoffs six times between 1993 and 2000, with each team winning three times. But the rivalry laid dormant for more than a decade until the Pacers eliminated the Knicks in the 2013 playoffs. Well, it may be back another decade later, with Brunson and Carlisle at the center of it.

Carlisle served as the Mavericks’ head coach from 2008 to 2021, during which he won an NBA Championship in 2011. And in 2018, before the final season of Dirk Nowitzki’s career, the Mavericks drafted a pair of eventual stars: Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson. While Doncic was the clear-cut jewel of the Mavs’ draft, Brunson would become an invaluable role player during his time in Dallas, although it would not come without issues.

NBA reporter Tim McMahon brought attention to the potential tension between Carlisle and Brunson, stemming from a 2021 first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“Three years ago, Jalen Brunson played 10 minutes in a Game 7 loss — and he didn’t play a whole lot more than that in the previous few games,” McMahon said. “Rick basically pulled the plug on him in that last series against the Clippers. Game 7 ended up being Rick’s last game as the Mavericks’ coach, and I can assure you this, Jalen remembers getting essentially benched in that series.

“That’s something that I know for a fact will be in Jalen Brunson’s mind. Rick, apparently, he has mellowed out significantly in Indiana. He definitely was not the easiest guy to play for in Dallas, and because he was not going to say anything to Luka for the last few years, because that relationship was damaged by Rick early on, as I chronicled, Jalen got a lot of the stuff that maybe should have been going to Luka. A lot of the film sessions were particularly harsh on Jalen. How much personal feelings will there be, I don’t know, but I think there’s definitely a decent chunk of Jalen Brunson that would enjoy absolutely lighting up the Indiana Pacers in the second round and bouncing them from the playoffs.”