Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle has weighed in on the much-talked-about play-in tournament. Mavs star Luka Doncic himself was just one of the multitude of players from around the league — along with team owner Mark Cuban — who have criticized the NBA for their plans to hold the pre-playoffs mini-tournament. As it turns out, however, coach Carlisle is taking a bit of a different approach.
Carlisle did acknowledge that the league has been receiving a lot of stick for their play-in plans, but he did also say that it's just a matter of perspective (h/t Tim MacMahon of ESPN):
Rick Carlisle wants no part of the play-in tournament, but he’s not joining Luka Doncic and Mark Cuban (and LeBron James) as a critic of the concept. pic.twitter.com/OnaM9NWpbU
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 7, 2021
For what it's worth, the Mavs are currently sitting at the fifth spot in the Western Conference with a 38-28 record (as of Friday afternoon). However, they are currently in the midst of an extremely tight race, with just one game separating them from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers, who are currently tied at sixth.
If the Mavs fall to the seventh seed (or the eighth) then they will be required to participate in the play-in tournament. They could very well get eliminated from the postseason altogether if they fail to win in the mini-tournament.
Whatever the case may be, Carlisle's perspective here serves as a breath of fresh air. We've all heard the opposing arguments against the NBA's play-in tournament so it's nice to welcome some positive feedback for a change. At the end of the day, the tournament is going to take place anyway so as Carlisle has done, it might be a good idea to just embrace it.
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