Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is stepping down from his post in an absolute bombshell move as chaos continues to surround the organization, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Carlisle informed Mavs owner Mark Cuban of his decision on Thursday.

Carlisle also made a statement to Woj:

Cuban released a statement on Carlisle as well:

This comes right after president Donnie Nelson “parted ways” with the Mavs in what was actually a firing.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon reports there was some simmering tension between Carlisle and Luka Doncic this season, but the longtime head coach was still expected to return. Now that Carlisle is out, assistant coach Jamahl Mosley could be an option to take over. Doncic is a Mosley supporter.

It has been an absolutely chaotic week in Dallas. An explosive report from The Athletic highlighted dysfunction in the front office and internal concern that these issues would hurt the Mavs' chances of building a championship contender around Doncic. This in turn could damage their ability to keep Doncic around for the long haul.

Doncic admitted Thursday he was a fan of Nelson and didn't want to see him go. Despite all of these issues, the Slovenian sensation is still expected to sign a five-year supermax deal worth over $200 million.

The Mavs have a lot of work to do to fix their ongoing issues as they attempt to build a consistent big-time winner around Doncic. They now have to hire a new top executive and replace a championship head coach in addition to fixing the roster. It's unclear if Haralabos Voulgaris, the so-called “shadow GM,” will be back.

As for Carlisle, he wants to keep coaching. He took over as Mavs head coach in 2008 and made the playoffs in nine of 13 years, though Dallas hasn't made it out of the first round since winning the title in 2011.