Welcome to the holiday edition of the Mavericks’ Mailbag.
In the interest of public service and as an early Christmas gift, we will start this mailbag with a cautionary tale.
Some of you may have noticed that I wrote a story last week from Indianapolis the day before the Mavericks were to play Rick Carlisle’s Pacers.
To catch up with the former Mavericks’ coach of 13 seasons, I flew to Indy a couple days early.
I spent part of Wednesday before the Pacers played New York in Carlisle’s office. We shook hands, exchanged man-hugs, etc.
About four hours later, Carlisle tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
The next day, news broke of Carlisle’s positive test and I realized I had to go into health and safety protocols. After scampering back to Dallas before the Mavericks played at Indy, I got tested twice in the following week and was negative both times.
I have since been cleared to get back on the court and resume regular work duties.
But the point of all this is that I have been fully vaccinated and boostered. And I am glad for it. Who knows whether Carlisle was contagious at that time. Doesn’t really matter.
In those few days between exposure and getting tested, it was reassuring knowing I’d done everything I could to steer clear of harm’s way.
I’m not here to preach about getting fully vaccinated. But for my money, and my health, I’m a believer.
And now, on to our questions, and by the way, it was a light load in the mailbag this week. Let’s work on that, people, for the post-Christmas version that will be loaded with New Year’s Resolutions.
From AARON B.: I noticed the last-two-minute report said there were a bunch of missed calls in the Mavericks’ loss to the Lakers. In general, what do you think of the L2M report?
Sefko: Generally speaking, I don’t pay a lot of attention to it. First off, with replay reviews, if there is a game-changing call down the stretch, it’s almost always reviewed and the right call is made. When you go over call-by-call for two minutes of a close game, there are going to be some missed whistles. But making them public doesn’t help the team that got jobbed. And we won’t even get started on how we never find out if offending officials actually get reprimanded in some way. Years ago, NBA teams would call the league office the following morning and get explanations on any controversial calls late in close games. The L2M report is supposed to be a more transparent way of doing that business. But it doesn’t right any wrongs and it doesn’t give any team future credit (for anybody who believes all these things equalize in the end). Just be content in the knowledge that the league wants to get everything right. It’s an impossible pursuit. But they’ll keep trying.
From JAYSON S: What’s the point of not practicing when players and coaches are going to be breathing and sweating on one another and be in a packed stadium during games?
Sefko: Excellent point, to which I have no real insight. All I can say is that teams want to do as much as they can to protect their own players and staff. By this time in the season, if players need heavy practice time, teams have big problems. They know the plays. They know the defensive switches and rules. It’s more mental now. Film sessions and motivational talks are more important than sweat equity. As commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday, there are no plans to pause the NBA season because of COVID-19. So teams are dealing with in ways they feel are best for their situation. Nothing wrong with that. But there’s nothing we can do about the games. Players can’t wear masks on the court. So taking all the precautions we can before and after games is the best strategy.
From JIM B.: What’s up with all these players missing time for “personal reasons?” I know stuff happens, but I’ve worked 50 years without missing any time for personal reasons. It seems a little overused.
Sefko: First off, you’ve never had to take a day to attend a funeral for a loved one? Or been detoured by a vehicle that wouldn’t start on that cold morning? Consider yourself very lucky because I consider those to be “personal reasons.” But to your question, I understand where you are coming from. Whenever you see the term “personal reasons,” almost everybody assumes something bad has happened in that player’s life. A family member’s health, a run-in with the law, perhaps a positive COVID-19 test in this day and age for somebody who values their privacy, for whatever reason. The point is that we have to give teams and players the benefit of the doubt in these situations. If LeBron James misses a game for personal reasons, it’s probably going to make headlines and become public knowledge what the issue was. For other players, it may not. But the pain of making a big fuss about it is probably not worth the gain of knowing what the reasons are.
Twitter: @ESefko
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