Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle chatted with Steve Dennis and Tim Cowlishaw about Mexico City and more on his weekly appearance on DAC, ESPN Radio’s afternoon show.
Click to hear the full audio, and read below for his first impression of playing in Mexico City.
On playing an international game far from home in Mexico City: “My belief is that — and I make this statement based on three-plus decades being in this as a player, assistant coach, head coach, broadcaster. I’ve been on the competition committee now for several years, have been serving as president of the coaches association, so I’ve worked closely with the league for, gosh, over 10 years. And so this is important. These are sacrifices that we have to make for the good of our game and the good of our business. If you could’ve been there to see the spectacle — the day before the game we show up at the arena, there’s an NBA Cares event for Special Olympics kids and some other kids — the arena was just abuzz. There were over 100 media people there. After the event, there was a 30-minute segment for B-roll. It reminded me of the NBA Finals. There weren’t 3 or 400 people there like there are in the NBA Finals, but there are 100 or maybe even more. I think a lot of us just don’t understand the reach of our game and how it touches people, even in places that are far away. Now Mexico is not far, if you think about the border, but Mexico City is a jaunt. That’s an over-2-hour flight from Dallas, and you’re flying into a totally different place. Mexico City has got 22 or 23 million people. I forget what the square mileage is, but it’s a very big place. And people are just hog-wild about NBA basketball.”
Carlisle appears on DAC every Friday at 4:45. DAC airs weekdays from 3-6 p.m.
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