Carlisle on social media content coming out of Orlando: “We’ve gotta open this up”

The Dallas Mavericks have always been a franchise that captivates its fans. The team has placed top five in ESPN’s Average Attendance every year since 2002, when they placed sixth. It’s a franchise that’s been blessed with talented and exciting young players and while only one title in 2011, still a lot of on-court success.

Now at the start of a new decade has come a new era of Mavericks basketball. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis have become the cornerstones for an offense that isn’t just fun to watch, but was also on pace to be the most efficient offense ever. As one of the most exciting duos in the league they’ve captivated a basketball audience not just in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex but around the world.

Unfortunately, the threat of COVID-19 has limited our contact with nearly everyone in our lives. The ways in which we engage with, communicate to, and simply experience NBA teams and their players have been changed tremendously. But consider yourselves lucky — the Dallas Mavericks social media team has done an exceptional job at continuing to provide insightful and fun content.

The amount of media we’re getting to see from the Mavericks is no accident. “It’s important that we’re giving as much access as we can to our fan base,” coach Rick Carlisle said on Sunday when asked if coaches were encouraging social media engagement. “We’re allowing Chopper (Jason Chinnock, local photo journalist assigned to the team in Orlando) in meetings, practices, [even] COVID testing; you name it.”

@JChinnok on Twitter

Carlisle also mentioned how recently he has been more open in his transparency with the media. “Under normal circumstances over the years I’d be pretty vigilant about keeping practice closed but we’re in a different time,” Carlisle emphasized. “We’ve gotta open this up, we’ve gotta give our fans not only a glimpse but a strong view of what’s going on at an hour-to-hour basis.”

One of the first social media posts that gained national attention for the Mavericks was a video of Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell DJ-ing off their balcony. “Dwight actually came up with that idea,” Kleber stated. “We had a fun time, that was one of the first days where we could do anything.”

As great of a job as Chinnock and many others have been doing, so much of the content has been directly from the players themselves, even players not on the Mavericks. We saw Tobias Harris — forward for the Philidelphia 76ers and former teammate of Boban Marjanovic — share his jealousy in Boban’s new friendship with Luka Doncic.

Apparently, all the Mavericks, especially Luka Doncic, are expert fishermen. As the team continues to go on the water, expect the Mavs Moneyball team to cover all the great fishing content.

As silly as some of the content may seem, it really is a unique privilege Mavs fans have to see this. Many teams are either just uploading practice highlights or are silent altogether. It’s been really nice to see how genuine this team truly is with each other.

Maxi Kleber pulled back the curtain on the challenges of living in a bubble. “Especially mentally, I think it’s going to be a challenge here,” Kleber admitted. “There’s no escape to see family or friends.” Luckily, the natural chemistry the team has is proving to be a relief to many.

“The great thing about us is that we get along really well,” he said when talking on the team’s chemistry. “We’ll get to know each other a lot more on and off the court.”