Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle revealed barely 90 minutes before Friday’s game against the Knicks that he tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day, adding that he’s been fully vaccinated since January.
The former Knicks guard did his pregame media availability from the team’s hotel in New York, while hoping to hear from the NBA about the possibility his test result was a false positive.
But assistant Jamahl Mosley, who interviewed for the Knicks’ vacancy last June, coached the Mavs in place of the 61-year-old Carlisle. It would have been his 1,500th game as an NBA head coach.
“Well, in this year of the unexpected…I had an unexpected positive test this morning,” Carlisle said, adding he was experiencing no symptoms. “This seems like possibly a mistake, but for these reasons I’m obviously entering (NBA health and safety) protocols.”
