The Dallas Mavericks released athletic coach Calhoun and performance director Belton after injurious season and internal conflicts about the Doncic deal.
The Dallas Mavericks are faced with a new change in their fitness and performance team. General Manager Nico Harrison released the leading athletic coach Dionne Calhoun and the director of athletic performance, Keith Belton.
This reported ESPN , citing internal sources. These layoffs follow a season characterized by injuries, in which the Mavericks ended with a balance of 39-43 after the shocking trade of Luka Doncic and left the Western Conference in the last play-in game.
Mavericks fire NBA veteran
Calhoun has been with the Mavericks for 21 years and was promoted to the leading athletic coach in 2019. He was one of the last remaining employees of the former health and performance director Casey Smith.
Smith was released in August 2023 and played a new position as Vice President of Sports Medicine at the New York Knicks in summer. Belton, a former NFL Fullback and previously director of football performance at UCLA, was hired by Harrison last summer after the long-time performance director of the Mavericks, Jeremy Holsopfe, was released.
Zoff and missing certificates
According to a report by ESPN in April, Belton did not have the certification of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, which, according to the NBA collective agreement, is required for the employment as a strength coach.
Sources reported considerable tensions between Belton and the new director of health and performance, Johann Bilsborough, who continues to work on the Mavericks.
Loud argument – Doncic as a factor?
Several team sources reported that the Mavericks personnel department examined a loud, heated argument between Belton and Bilsborough in the team’s training center.
The conflict arose from a disagreement on the treatment of Mavericks Center Dereck Lively II. Lively under the supervision of Belton, an intensive “return-to-play” training had completed a day before a CT scan revealed a stress fracture in the right ankle that went out of action for three months.
General Manager Nico Harrison had indicated after the Doncic Trade that the NBA superstar was not physically fit enough to lead the team to the NBA title and thus also counted the fitness department in addition to the Slovenian.