Rick Carlisle: I think Luka Doncic is going to be MVP this year

As Doncic entered the offseason additionally motivated by the Mavs finishing with a 38-44 record and failing to qualify for the play-in tournament, he’s pushed himself in his conditioning. Carlisle sees Doncic as having been on the cusp of being the world’s best player, but once again predicted an MVP season. “I’m sure he’s doing all the right things for him,” Carlisle said of Doncic. “He’s been on the cusp of being the best player in the world. He’s right there, and I think he’s going to be the MVP this year.” -via Sports Illustrated / August 3, 2023

Clutch Points: “Stare down type crazy Luka Doncic lol I love the energy.” Kyrie Irving was loving this play from his Mavs teammate yesterday 🔥 (via @KyrieIrving/ IG) pic.twitter.com/5XCgB6lVVr -via Twitter @ClutchPointsApp / August 3, 2023

JJ Redick: The thing for me has always been how poised and how calm and how seemingly unbothered you are, by all the noise? How do you maintain a level of sanity with within this discourse? Damian Lillard: Because I have a real life. Like, I think that’s the best way to put it. Like, I don’t live my life as Damian Lillard. I go home, I play with my kids, like, I play with my kids, I go to my mom’s house, I hang out with my cousins, you know what I mean? I talk to my grandmother on the phone. And my uncle calls me and we talk on the phone all night about just regular stuff, you know what I’m saying? So I have a life that’s stable, and is not based upon who I am as an NBA player, I have real friends. My best friend comes to Portland and he works a job where he can work from home, and he’ll come stay with me for it. He’s single and he’ll come stay for a few weeks, he’ll book a one way and we have a real friendship. So like, I don’t sit here and just think about I need to leave all the time. And I’m not sitting there watching TV and hearing everything. They got to say like, oh, I need to, I probably should do this, or I probably should do that. I’m like, when my career is over, you’re not about to be talking about me. You’re gonna be talking about Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum or whoever when I’m done playing. -via Apple Podcasts / August 3, 2023

Carlisle attended Turner’s camp last summer and was eager to show support again, given how hands-on Turner is with the camp experience despite there being two age groups each lasting for four hours for two full days. “The thing I think is really special about this is that Myles Turner is completely involved with everything,” Carlisle told DallasBasketball.com. “He’s on the court running stations. He’s playing with kids in competitive games.” -via Sports Illustrated / August 3, 2023

“I’m looking forward to Hall of Fame weekend,” Carlisle said. “I’m going be there for the entire weekend and I’ll be at all the events. It’s a great celebration of Dirk’s career as of one of the all time great players.” “Dirk’s one of the top players of all time,” Carlisle explained. “That’s undisputed. And he makes his residence in Dallas and that really says a lot about his relationship with the city, the fans, Mark Cuban and everybody that that’s ever come across Mavericks basketball. “He’s just a super special guy,” Carlisle explained further. “I was very privileged to be with him for 11 years and wouldn’t trade him for anything.” -via Sports Illustrated / August 3, 2023