Photo: Sarah Stier
Indiana Pacers HC Rick Carlisle is planning to submit nearly 50 calls to the NBA league office that he believes were wrong or questionable from last night’s loss to the New York Knicks. And while the league has a process for this type of thing, it does not include suggesting that the bad calls were intended to benefit the big market team, which Carlisle clearly implied during his postgame press conference. However, the evidence doesn’t actually support his claim and now he’ll likely face a fine from the league for his comments.
Dan Patrick: “If I’m Commissioner (Adam) Silver, I would say to Rick Carlisle, ‘Hey Rick, tell me when the big market teams have benefited let’s say the last seven years.’ None of them have won the lottery. Who’s winning championships? And your big market team won a title in the bubble in Orlando with the Lakers. Like, look around! Lakers aren’t there. Clippers aren’t there. Philadelphia’s not there. Chicago had a team meeting after Game 1 this regular season. They’re not there; they haven’t been good since (Michael) Jordan left. When you say, ‘small market,’ boy, that’s when the commissioner is probably going to come down pretty hard on Rick.”