DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks assistant Jim O’Brien is retiring after a 30-year career that included heading coaching stints in Boston, Philadelphia and Indiana.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said Friday that O’Brien is being replaced by Kaleb Canales, who was the interim head coach in Portland last year.
Canales has ties to the Dallas area after working as a student assistant at Texas-Arlington a decade ago before catching on with Portland as a video intern. The Trail Blazers gave him the interim job when they fired Nate McMillan last season.
The 34-year-old Canales remained on the Portland staff when former Dallas assistant Terry Stotts was hired as head coach in the offseason. Carlise said Canales will help coordinate the Mavericks offense.
“Kaleb has worked for the Portland Trail Blazers organization in multiple capacities for the last nine years, and brings great knowledge, enthusiasm and work ethic to the Mavs,” Carlisle said.
